Cadbury's salmonella outbreak - more people come forward
02/08/2006
May I thank you for the way my accident claim has been handled, after my accident my confidence was very low indeed but the sympathetic handling of my case restored my confidence.
John, Sheffield
More potential victims of contaminated Cadbury's chocolate, which the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has confirmed was the most likely cause of an outbreak of salmonella poisoning, have come forward to seek legal advice.
Cadburys Schweppes today announced their interim report into the suspected cases of salmonella associated with their chocolate bars.
Cadbury also said that their recall would probably cost the company around £20 million in lost sales.
Irwin Mitchell are acting for several victims of suspected salmonella poisoning resulting from eating Cadbury's chocolate bars.
Specialist personal injury solicitor Sallie Booth said:
"Since the HPA confirmed the likely link of the outbreak of the rare strain of Salmonella, known as Montevideo, with contamination at the Cadbury's plant in Herefordshire we have had a number of enquiries from people who believe they have been affected. We can confirm that we are currently investigating the most likely source of their exposure."
"HPA records show that at least 3 people, including one child, has been hospitalised with the infection. This strain of Salmonella, which causes diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, chills and headaches, is particularly dangerous to the most vulnerable people in society which include children, who are the main consumers of chocolate."
Earlier this year The Food Standards Agency had to force Cadburys to withdraw 1m chocolate bars after the Salmonella Montevideo bug was identified at one of its factories.
The identification of a potential source of the bug followed the HPA witnessing unusually high levels of Salmonella Montevideo poisoning in Britain, with 59 cases of Montevideo Salmonella since 1 March.
On average there are usually 55 cases of salmonella poisoning in the UK a year.
Catherine Henderson - one of the potential claimants had to be kept on a hospital isolation ward for five days after eating a Cadbury's caramel bar. Mrs Henderson was told by environmental health officials that her tests showed the presence of Salmonella Montevideo, the same rare strain identified in Cadbury's chocolate.
Salmonella Montevideo - a bug found in food including dairy products and uncooked meat. Symptoms include diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, chills and headaches.
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