|
|
Cadbury’s Hit by Salmonella Scare in the UK
Invite a Friend
Free Email Alerts
On June 23, 2006, Cadbury Schweppes PLC (Cadbury), the
world’s leading confectionery company, announced a recall of one million
chocolate bars spanning seven product lines from markets in the UK and Ireland.
|
|
In a press
release, Cadbury mentioned that this was being done as a precautionary
measure after traces of Salmonella Montevideo1 were found in some of the
product samples. Simon Baldry, Managing Director of Cadbury UK, said,
“We’ve been making chocolate for over 100 years and quality has always
come first. We have taken this precautionary step because our consumers
are our highest priority. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.”2
However, reports indicated that Cadbury had recalled its products after
being forced to do so by the Food Standards Agency (FSA)3 . The
salmonella contamination was believed to have been caused by a leaking
drain pipe at Cadbury’s Marlbrook plant, near Leominster, Herefordshire,
UK. |
Cadbury had to face a lot of flak because even though the
contamination had come to the company’s notice in January 2006, it reported the
incident to the FSA only on June 19, 2006. Under the UK Food Safety Act, companies had to withdraw
products from the market, if there was a confirmed contamination, and also had
to immediately inform the concerned authorities. The FSA launched an
investigation as to why Cadbury failed to alert them immediately after
discovering the salmonella contamination at its Marlbrook plant.
Cadbury officials explained that after the contamination was first detected in
January 2006, sample tests were conducted and the company had found ‘salmonella”
to be within acceptable limits. Matthew Shattock , Cadbury’s European president,
said that out of 7,000 samples only 14 were found to contain Salmonella
Montevideo and subsequent testing of 17,000 samples found no trace of the
bacteria.
[1] A rare trait of bacterium salmonella, which is the
most common agent associated with food poisoning and can sometimes prove to be
fatal. It is mainly found in poultry, eggs, unprocessed milk, and in unclean
water.
[2] “Cadbury product recall,” www.cadbury.co.uk, June 23, 2006.
[3] The Food Standards Agency is an independent Government department
set up by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to protect the public’s health and
consumer interests in relation to food consumption in the UK. |
To download this micro case study (No. MCBE0004 ) click on the
button below, and select the case from the list of
available micro cases:
More Micro Case Studies
AIDS Drugs - Have Patent Rights Triumphed Over Patients’ Rights?
Fake CVs Roil the Indian Job Market
Pantaloon Forays into Insurance
Yahoo! and eBay’s Strategic Alliance
Intel and The Dell-AMD Deal
Apple Launches Fifth Avenue Retail Store
Exxon’s Problem of Riches
Microsoft Unveils IE 7 Beta
Department of Posts Targets Private Couriers
Google and Sony - Buzz Marketing ‘The Da Vinci Code’
Birlas Buy Tata’s Stake in “Idea Cellular”
Microsoft’s "People-Ready" Campaign - Targeting IBM ?
Google and the 'Click Fraud' Menace
Real Madrid’s ‘Galacticos’ Strategy: Losing Steam?
Bird Flu In India
The Death Of Aibo
The ‘Le Clemenceau’ Controversy
BPO’s Tap into Rural India’s Potential
Online Advertising In India - The MSN India And NDTV Media Tie-Up
The Pixar Buy - Disney’s Creative Mojo?
Labor Unrest At Toyota India
Coca-Cola Faces Another University Ban
|
More Classifications...