Cadbury Schweppes is to be prosecuted by a local council in England over a salmonella scare last year in which over a million chocolate bars had to be recalled.
Birmingham City Council said today it was bringing three charges against the world's largest confectionery group and Dairy Milk chocolate maker after it revealed in June 2006 that seven of its products contained minute traces of salmonella.
The council is accusing Cadbury of placing "unsafe" chocolate products on the market, an alleged failure to "immediately inform" the authorities, and failing to "identify hazards" from the contaminated chocolate bars.
Cadbury will appear before Birmingham Magistrates' Court on June 15th, and each of the three offences carries a maximum penalty of unlimited fines, Birmingham City Council said.
Cadbury said in a statement, "We have fully co-operated with the authorities throughout their inquiries and we will examine the charges that have been brought."
The prosecution follows an investigation by the council's public health officers in the wake of the salmonella outbreak at Cadbury's plant at Marlbrook in Herefordshire, 80 kilometres south-west of Birmingham.