In mid-October, the German health authorities noted an unusual increase of Salmonella Oranienburg reports. In November, a reference laboratory notified the German health officials about a chocolate sample that had been tested in September and that was found to be contaminated with Salmonella Oranienburg. A German chocolate manufacturer had submitted the sample for testing. Salmonella cases were ultimately detected in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, and Austria. The outbreak continued through March, 2002. A case control study indicated that chocolate consumption was a risk factor for illness. Chocolate had been implicated in previous outbreaks of Salmonella. No source of point of contamination was ever identified for this outbreak.