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Food & Drug E-Alert
July 19, 2007
Cadbury and the Chocolate Factory
E-Alert - Cadbury Case
In a landmark case for the UK food industry, on 16 July 2007, Cadbury Ltd was fined £1m and
ordered to pay £152,000 legal costs for knowingly selling chocolate contaminated with salmonella.
This fine is unprecedented and demonstrates that the UK authorities are adopting a “zero
tolerance” approach to breaches of food safety legislation.
The Facts - The company first discovered salmonella contamination at its Bournville site in April
2002. Further positive samples were found between 2003 and 2006 in raw materials and end
products, as well as manufacturing and distribution equipment. Cadbury Ltd began an internal
investigation but, despite numerous routine visits from environmental health officers, did not inform
the authorities until June 2006.
The salmonella outbreak led to three people being treated in hospital and 39 - including babies
and children under 10 - suffering from food poisoning after eating Cadbury’s products. The
company recalled one million chocolate bars after the incident came to light.
The Prosecution - Brought by Birmingham City Council against Cadbury Ltd. The company
pleaded guilty to three offences under the General Food Regulations 2004 and the Food Hygiene
Regulations 2006 for:
♦ Placing chocolate on the market that was injurious to health and unfit for human
consumption;
♦ Failing to immediately inform the competent authorities; and
♦ Failing to identify hazards and critical control points, and take corrective action in line with
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles.
The Judgment - The Judge said this was “a serious case of negligence”, but added that he was
“not satisfied that at the time of the introduction of the new system Cadbury consciously thought
that it was taking a risk with people’s health.”
A Precedent - This case sets a precedent for how food safety legislation will operate and be
enforced in future. Many companies have tried to balance the requirements of notifying the Food
Standards Agency (FSA) against the risk of being prosecuted for failing to report issues
immediately. If a company notifies the FSA, there is always the possibility that the Agency could
demand a product recall, even for relatively minor issues, which would be costly and could impact
on brand reputation. This case sends a clear message that food companies can no longer attempt
to deal with safety matters internally. They must involve the FSA and inform the Agency at the
earliest opportunity.
The Future - Despite the fine imposed by the court, some commentators believe this amount is
too low for a multinational company to have any incentive to improve its behaviour in future. As a
result of this case, the UK government or the European Commission could decide to carry out a
review of the food safety penalties to ensure that these types of companies are fined a significant
percentage of their profits for breaches of food safety legislation. Already, there is a European
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Community Penalties Regulation for pharmaceutical companies in force across Europe. These
rules allow the European Commission to impose significant financial penalties on companies that
infringe pharmaceutical rules. The food industry could be next in line.
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This information is not intended as legal advice, which may often turn on specific facts. Readers should seek
specific legal advice before acting with regard to the subjects mentioned herein.
If you have any questions concerning the material discussed in this client alert,
please contact the following members of our life sciences group:
Anne Ware
Peter Bogaert
Joanna Wheeler
+44.(0)20.7067.2124
+32.(0)2.549.5243
+44.(0)20.7067.2056
aware@cov.com
pbogaert@cov.com
jwheeler@cov.com
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