Cadbury should be prosecuted for not disclosing salmonella for five months - Huhne

9.15.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 10th Jul 2006

The Liberal Democrats today called for Cadbury Schweppes plc to be prosecuted for failing to notify the existence of salmonella in its products for five months.

In a parliamentary answer today, the Department of Health confirmed that Cadbury first informed the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on 19 June that they had detected Salmonella in their Marlbrook plant in January.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow DEFRA Secretary, Chris Huhne MP said:

"Cadbury Schweppes has fallen well below the high expected of a leading food and drink manufacturer. Its failure to notify the FSA is a clear breach of its legal duty under the General Food Regulations 2004.

"This looks like a case of corporate cover-up when what was needed was an honest owning-up.

"Cadbury waited more than five months before notifying the FSA of its problem with salmonella, and also failed to notify the contamination of its products in April 2002. Cadbury should be prosecuted to ensure that all food manufacturers know that safety must come first.

"This is a test case that could determine the seriousness with which food businesses take their safety obligations. If a food giant like Cadbury can get away with sloppy behaviour, the message to everyone else will be appalling. The law must be enforced."