News - Agents say chocolates here safe

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Agents say chocolates here safe

By Esther Williams and Marisa De Silva

Local chocolate importers and distributors assure that Sri Lanka is safe from the Salmonella scare that pushed the 100 year old confectionary company, Cadbury’s, to recall a million bars of chocolates in Britain and Ireland recently.

Cadbury officials claim it was only done as a precautionary measure soon after the possible contamination was traced to a dirty water leak from a pipe, which had splashed on to a conveyor belt at the Cadbury’s Marlbrook Plant in Herefordshire.

However, once samples were sent to an independent laboratory for further tests and then on to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), the bacterium was confirmed to be the unusual strain Salmonella montevideo. Salmonella it appears is a common cause of food poisoning.

The situation here, however, seems to be safer, according to General Manager of Millers Ltd - the sole distributor for Cadbury’s in Sri Lanka.

“We import only Cadbury’s chocolates from India and a small quantity from Australia. We don’t import any chocolates from Britain or Ireland. We import from India because Indian products are tropicalised and therefore can be stored better in local climatic conditions,” he said.

Early this week Millers had heard from Cadburys in UK that all stocks of the suspect batch had been voluntarily taken off the shelves.

“Hence there is no cause for concern. Cadbury’s have been very transparent,” Millers GM said.

He also said there is in place a standard procedure that ensures that every consignment is checked by an independent third party which certifies that the products are not contaminated.

“We do import from Cadbury’s, UK but our products are not those listed as affected,” says head of buying for Alpha Asia. Alpha Airports Group runs the duty-free shops not only at the Bandaranaike International Airport but also in India, Maldives, Nepal, Europe and the US.

The travel retail industry across Europe and UK has since been assured that all Cadbury products supplied to travel retail are not affected.

“Only a particular batch is affected. There is no issue of discrepancies as we have never ordered those ‘stock keeping units’ (SKU),” an Alpha Asia representative said. Alpha Asia has also been informed that the affected products were made for the UK domestic market only. Products made for domestic use are apparently packaged differently.

Asked if the reason for special offers such as ‘buy 2 get one free,’ common at most airports (including in Sri Lanka) is because of the so called ‘dumping’ on developing nations, the Alpha Asia representative said “Such promotions are made by us and not by Cadbury and so the question does not arise.”

Seven products figure in the affected list (see box).

Cadbury’s European President Matthew Shattock has reportedly told BBC Radio 4 last month that the recall decision was made after the Food Standards Agency (FSA), UK, reported there had been an increase in the number of salmonella cases this year.This year saw an increase of cases totalling 45 compared to the 12 cases last year. Nevertheless there is no evidence that there is a link between the increase in cases and the recall of chocolates, according to the HPA

While the HPA and FSA continue investigations, Cadbury officials said contamination levels were significantly below the standard that would cause any health problems, while bacteriologists are of the opinion that there is no safe level of Salmonella infection.

Salmonella is normally contracted through raw or under-cooked food, or through poor kitchen hygiene. It is found mostly in poultry, eggs, unprocessed milk and in meat and water.

In an effort to tide over the situation, Cadbury’s have set up a free help line and refunds are being given to consumers who return uneaten products. The company claims to have identified the problem early and corrected it.

Affected products

250 gram - Cadbury Dairy Milk Turkish
250 gram - Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel
250 gram - Cadbury Dairy Milk Mint
(including 33% extra free bars)
Cadbury Dairy Milk 8 chunk
1 kilogram - Cadbury Dairy Milk
Cadbury Dairy Milk Button Easter Egg – 105 gram
Cadbury Freddo 10p

Safety checks by Customs

“Usually we have a procedure where the Customs authorities refer all consignments of confectionery (sweets, chocolates etc.,) to us, so we can cross check the relevant documentation provided by the country of export (e.g. health certification) which ensures that the products are safe for consumption,” said the Director of the Environmental, Occupational Health and Food Safety Unit, Dr. C.K. Shanmugarajah.

All such consignments of confectionery, be it for the domestic market or for the Airport duty-free shops, must be sent by the Customs for screening to the Food Safety Unit, he said.

Small consignments of chocolates or sweets brought in by travellers, in their baggage can go unchecked and enter the local market, he said. However, Customs officers have been instructed to conduct random checks even on these small consignments and send them over to the Food Safety Unit for testing.

“Up until now, these random tests have been conducted only to check for any evidence of dyes and various other additives contained in food products but, we hope to start microbiological testing too in the near future,” said Dr. Shanmugarajah, adding that it was only through microbiological testing that it was possible to detect something like Salmonella contamination.

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