Cost-cutting led to Cadbury's salmonella scare, court told

The confectionery giant sought to save money and reduce wastage by introducing an "allowable tolerance level" for salmonella in its products, Birmingham Crown Court was told.

Barry Berlin, prosecuting on behalf of Birmingham City Council, described the change in 2003 as "utterly inappropriate".

Cadbury pleaded guilty earlier this year to breaching food and hygiene regulations in connection with the outbreak in the summer of 2006.

It has been prosecuted by Birmingham City Council and a neighbouring council in Herefordshire. Sentencing of both cases - expected to be delayed until Monday - has been brought together.

Mr Berlin had told the court that until 2003 Cadbury had destroyed any chocolate which tested positive for salmonella, adopting an approach that "no amount of testing will make a positive result go away".

But he said: "They then changed it to 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."

Mr Berlin 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.

The court also heard that chocolate acted as a protective layer for salmonella organisms, shielding them from acid in the stomach.

Referring Recorder James Guthrie QC to research literature covering the subject of salmonella, Mr Berlin went on: "Cadbury knew perfectly well, we submit, that outbreaks of salmonella had been associated with very low levels in chocolate."

Cadbury has apologised for failing to realise a leaking pipe at its factory in Marlbrook, Herefordshire, posed a risk to health.

The firm's barrister told a previous hearing that it had already spent £20million on improvements, including changes to quality control procedures.

More than a million products were recalled by Cadbury on June 23 last year due to the outbreak.

The Birmingham-based company was committed for sentence at the Crown Court after admitting offences at both Birmingham and Hereford Magistrates' Courts.

It pleaded guilty before JPs in Birmingham on June 15 to three charges brought under food and hygiene regulations, 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.

Cadbury also admitted six further breaches food safety and hygiene laws at a hearing in Hereford on July 3.

Those charges related to the condition of the Marlbrook factory between February 2006 and November 2006.