Cadbury linked to salmonella outbreak

London — Contaminated Cadbury chocolate products were “the most likely cause” of a recent outbreak of food poisonings linked to the rare Salmonella Montevideo strain, according to the national Outbreak Control Team (OCT).

The OCT, which includes experts from the Health Protection Agency (HPA), Food Standards Agency and Defra, reached its conclusion after a review of data collected by the HPA following the recent recall of seven Cadbury own-brand chocolate products.

“After carefully considering all the available evidence the OCT concluded that consumption of products made by Cadbury Schweppes was the most credible explanation for the outbreak of Salmonella Montevideo,” the OCT said in a 21 July statement.

In response, Cadbury Schweppes issued a statement saying: “We regret that people have been unwell. We have already announced that we have changed our testing protocol and implemented new procedures to reassure consumers that any product showing any trace of salmonella will be destroyed regardless of how low the level.”

Investigators, last month, criticised testing and other procedures at Cadbury Schweppes, following the discovery of contamination due to a leaking pipe at its Marlbrook, Herefordshire plant. The experts also called for “a robust HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) to be in place.” at the confectionary maker.

Cadbury is now increasing its testing and changing the cleaning regimes and configuration at its Marlbrook plant. The company is also moving to a testing protocol of destroying any contaminated product, regardless of contamination level.

The new testing protocol is being introduced at the four Cadbury plants in the UK that manufacture chocolate, said a company spokeswoman. However, she declined to give location details for these facilities.