A UK court fined Cadbury Schweppes, the world's largest confectionery group, £1 million (€1.48 million) yesterday for selling unsafe chocolate in Britain and Ireland during 2006 in a salmonella health scare.

Cadbury, which makes Dairy Milk chocolate, had pleaded guilty after a number of people were left ill and some victims spent a number of days in hospital.

Cadbury accepted the outcome, and admitted the factory process it had followed in Britain was unacceptable. It added that it had spent £20 million to prevent this happening again.

"We have apologised for this and do so again today. In particular, we offer our sincere regrets and apologies to anyone who was made ill as a result of this failure," Cadbury said in a statement after the judge's sentence.

The London-based group was also ordered to pay costs of more than £152,000 by a judge at Birmingham's Crown Court, after being prosecuted by Birmingham City Council and a neighbouring council in Herefordshire. The sentencing of both cases was brought together.

In June last year Cadbury admitted to the salmonella problem at one of its plants in Britain, and recalled more than 1 million chocolate bars in the British and Irish markets, costing £30 million, as they could contain minute traces of salmonella.

Birmingham council prosecuted Cadbury under the UK General Food Regulations and Food Hygiene Regulations for, among other things, failing to immediately alert authorities it had reason to believe some of its chocolate was infected with salmonella.

Cadbury's UK chocolate manufacturing is based at Bournville, Birmingham, in the English west midlands. The problem occurred at its Marlbrook plant in Herefordshire, 80km southwest of Birmingham.

Cadbury detected salmonella on January 19th, 2006, at Marlbrook, which produces chocolate crumb mixture. However, it did not admit the problem until five months later on June 23rd, which it said was linked to a leaking pipe.

Analysts said the fine was not material to the group.