Cadbury fined £1 million over chocolate salmonella outbreak

A court heard chocolate bars became contaminated when the Birmingham-based company changed its product testing system to save money and reduce wastage.

More than one million chocolate bars had to be recalled after the outbreak was made public in June last year.

The chocolate giant had waited six months before revealing there had been an outbreak of a rare strain of the bug at its factory in Marlbrook, Herefordshire, which was traced back to a leaking pipe.

Last night, as a lawyer involved in the case said the fine could be a record punishment for a salmonella outbreak, one victim told how he was left so frail, medics warned he could have died.

Shaun Gerratty said that eighteen months on, he was still suffering with a form of irritable bowel syndrome caused by the salmonella.

Prosecutor Barry Berlin told Birmingham Crown Court that until 2003 Cadbury had employed a 'zero tolerance' policy on food standards and destroyed any chocolate which tested positive for salmonella.

But, outlining the prosecution case to Recorder James Guthrie QC on Friday, he added: 'They then changed it to (allow) what they believed to be an allowable tolerance level. They (Cadbury) sought to save money from wastage by allowing a tolerance for salmonella in their food.

'Large quantities of product were being destroyed and Cadbury's were looking for ways of avoiding that and that's what they did.

'There is no dispute that there is a linkage between the chocolate that was distributed by Cadbury and the poisoning that took place later on.'

He described the change as 'utterly inappropriate' and added that there was no safe level for salmonella cells in ready-to-eat products and that the organism could survive in chocolate for years.

Mr Berlin went on: 'Cadbury knew perfectly well, we submit, that outbreaks of salmonella had been associated with very low levels in chocolate.'

The chocolate recall cost Cadbury £15 million, and the firm has spent a further £20 million on improvements, including changes to quality control procedures.

Food safety breaches are policed by local authorities and Cadbury was taken to court by Birmingham City Council and Herefordshire Council.

The firm pleaded guilty to nine food safety offences at hearings before magistrates in Birmingham and Hereford earlier this summer, including an offence of putting 'unsafe' chocolate on the market and one of failing to immediately inform the relevant authorities about the potential dangers posed by the contamination.

Anthony Scrivener QC, representing Cadbury, said told the court the firm had not been motivated by commercial considerations when it changed testing methods.

Recorder Guthrie said he did not believe that Cadbury had made a conscious decision to cut costs when it altered its 'zero tolerance' policy regarding salmonella cells in its products.

He added: 'However, it is my view that the avoidance of wastage and the accompanying benefit of reducing costs which accompanied the new system was no doubt welcome and contributed to the lack of scrutiny, which the change ought to have received.'

He said it was a 'serious case of negligence'.

Cadbury was fined a total of £1million and also ordered to pay court costs of £152,000.

Last night Mr Garratty, a senior nurse, said he was suing the chocolate manufacturer for devastating his life.

The 44-year-old territorial army captain, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was diagnosed with salmonella poisoning after collapsing at home.

Mr Garratty said: 'My gastroenterologist told me if I had not been so fit I would have died.

'I was so ill my kids were crying at the bottom of my bed because they thought I was going to die. How more serious can it get?'

He lost three stone in weight and a consultant has told him the illness has left him with a form of irritable bowel syndrome.

Solicitor Sallie Booth, of Irwin Mitchell, represents 12 people affected by the contaminated chocolate, including Mr Garratty.

She said the fine could be a record in a salmonella case and 'sends a clear message that companies who have a great deal of responsibility for protecting public health cannot afford to ignore a potentially dangerous situation and cannot take a risk with the public's health.'

Others affected included a 61-year-old woman who lost 10lbs in weight and a woman who was so ill she could not attend her sister-in-law's funeral.

Cadbury was founded by a Quaker family in 1824 and employs 6,000 in the UK. In a statement, the firm apologised for the outbreak.