Cadbury's caught out over salmonella

Cadbury's was in the spotlight earlier this year over Montevideo Salmonella contamination of its products, which lost the chocolate giant 20million and raised product liability issues.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) investigated the case and demanded recall of products that could have been contaminated, although the risk was low. Cadbury's subsequently withdrew a million chocolate bars from UK shops and supermarket shelves in June.

Cadbury UK Managing Director Simon Baldry said at the time: "We've been making chocolate for over 100 years and quality has always come first. We have taken this precautionary step because our consumers are our highest priority. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."

UK Food Safety Act and salmonella
The case was extremely contentious because although the FSA order took place in June, Cadbury's allegedly knew about the salmonella contamination in January and did nothing about it. Although they said that during this period they were carrying out tests, the UK Food Safety Act states that contaminated products must be withdrawn from public display immediately.

A rise in cases of Montevideo Salmonella has been noted this year (2006), with up to 45 people affected in the last four months in comparison with just 12 in the corresponding period last year.

The products affected by the recall were the 250g packets of Cadbury Dairy Milk Turkish, Caramel, and Mint (including 33 % extra free bars), the Cadbury Dairy Milk 8 Chunk, the 1kg Cadbury Dairy Milk bar, the 105g Cadbury Dairy Milk Button Easter Egg and the Cadbury Freddo 10p.