Analyzing the 2006 Cadbury Salmonella Outbreak: A Case Study

This case study examines the 2006 Cadbury Salmonella outbreak, triggered by a wastewater leak into the chocolate crumb production process. The timeline of the outbreak, its epidemiology, and the root cause of contamination are explored, highlighting the role of a leaking sewer pipe. Microbiological analysis confirmed the Salmonella strain in both infected individuals and chocolate products. The company's response included product recalls and revised quality control measures, but not timely public disclosure. The outbreak resulted in significant financial losses, reputational damage, and hospitalizations. The case study concludes by noting the changes Cadbury implemented to prevent future incidents, demonstrating the importance of robust food safety protocols. Desklib provides access to similar case studies and resources to aid student learning.

Running head: MICROBIOLOGY 1
Microbiology
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Introduction
The Cadbury Company is a well-known producer and supplier of candies in the global
market. However, an issue regarding its effectiveness in candy production was discovered in
January 2006. Despite this issues happening, the affected candy bars were supplied into the
market resulting in the global infection and hospitalization of many candy customers.
Time of the outbreak
The company realized that there was a pipe, from a sewer, that was leaking its
wastewater into the Cadbury’s milk chocolate crumb. This leakage took place for several days
infecting the candy bars that were being produced with the Salmonella organisms. Thus, the
outbreak of the infection occurred earlier in the year 2006 to late 2007 (Ali, et al., 2016).
The epidemiology of the Salmonella outbreak
The outbreak of the infection started with the leakage in pipes that ran through the plants
of the company. The dripping wastewater that was from another pipe fell into the crumb that
used to mix the ingredients for the Cadbury chocolate bars. The resulting infected chocolate bars
were shipped into the global market with the Salmonella organisms on them. On average, every
person that consumed the infected bars was later hospitalized. However, the exact number of
infected people was never known as the impacts were on a global scale. The bars that were
shipped overseas were over a million in number (B.B.C., 2006).
Cause of contamination

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The exact cause of the infection was the Salmonella organisms that came from the
wastewater. This fact was as well confirmed by the company’s chief executive, Mr. Todd Stitzer,
in the same year.
Factors that contributed to the outbreak
The main factor that contributed to this outbreak was the leakage by a waste pipe that
caused the discharge of wastewater into the candy ingredients’ mixing crumb. This error in the
flow pipe was later fixed by the company (Carroll, 2016).
Analysis of the microbiology involved
The Salmonella strain from the suffering patients was determined in medical laboratories.
The infected chocolates were also assessed. Later, it was found out that the two strains from the
patients and chocolates matched one another. In order to end the Salmonella outbreak, the
Cadbury Company recalled the remaining product that had not been released into the market.
Nevertheless, the company did not disclose the information on production faulty to the public in
real time.
The results
After the infection became public, the company was accused of not being keen on its
product manufacturing. As a result, the company incurred a cost of approximately £20 million.
Also, the sales of the company that year fell by 14% (Walsh, 2006).
As the impact on the global scale was never known, only 37 people were found to have
been infected by the consumption of the infected bars in Europe. This infection led to these
people being hospitalized.

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The outbreak of the Salmonella infection made the company to accept the error in
production process. The company later changed its quality control measures and manufacturing
processes to be as effective as possible and announced that the error will never happen again.

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References
Ali, M. H., Tan, K. H., Makhbul, Z. M., & Ngah, A. H. (2016). Augmenting halal food integrity
through supply chain integration. Jurnal Pengurusan (UKM Journal of Management), 48.
B.B.C. (2006, June 24). Cadbury salmonella scare probed. Retrieved 2018, from B.B.C.:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5112470.stm
Carroll, C. (2016). Cadbury’s salmonella scare: good or bad crisis management? In The Crisis of
Food Brands, 45-48.
Walsh, F. (2006, August 6). The Guardian. Retrieved 2018, from Salmonella outbreak costs
Cadbury £20m: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/aug/03/food.foodanddrink