Thieves steal 12 tons of KitKat bars from truck in Europe

Twelve tons of KitKat chocolate bars were stolen while being transported across Europe earlier this week.

KitKat, which is owned by food giant Nestlé, said Saturday that 413,793 bars went missing after leaving a factory in central Italy, where they were to be distributed throughout Europe before arriving in Poland.

The vehicle and its contents have not been found, Nestlé said. It did not say where the truck was lost.

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"We've always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat, but it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tonnes of our chocolate," a KitKat spokesperson said in a statement.

"Whilst we appreciate the criminals' exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes," the spokesperson continued. "With more sophisticated schemes being deployed on a regular basis, we have chosen to go public with our own experience in the hope that it raises awareness of an increasingly common criminal trend."

While KitKat said there was no risk tied to the stolen product, it added that the missing chocolate bars could appear on unofficial sales channels across Europe.

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The company said the missing chocolate bars are traceable through a unique batch code and that anyone scanning the batch numbers of the stolen bars would be given instructions on how to contact the company.

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Nestlé said the incident will not affect supply or lead to a shortage ahead of Easter.

Reuters contributed to this report.