Cadbury bosses in the dock

Birmingham, UK -- Birmingham City Council is charging Cadbury Schweppes with three offences under health and safety legislation for producing and selling chocolate contaminated with salmonella (see PE Sept/Oct 2006, p10).

Each offence carries a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine and up to two years imprisonment for managers identified as causing the problem. The charges are due to be heard on 15 June.

The charges follow contamination from a leaky pipe at the Cadbury Marlbrook, Herefordshire plant that led to an outbreak of salmonella montevideo amongst consumers who bought infected chocolate bars.

Cadbury allegedly discovered the leak in February 2006, but mended it without making a product recall or notifying regulators. Consumers suffered from the salmonella outbreak between February and June, when seven products were withdrawn.

The prosecution charges say Cadbury placed products on the market that were unsafe and that it failed to inform the competent authorities that products might be contaminated. Also, it “failed to identify critical control points and corrective actions in line with HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) principles”.

To date, Cadbury has admitted the scare has cost it £30m, £10m more than its original estimate.