A woman who was in hospital for five days with suspected salmonella poisoning
after eating a Cadbury’s chocolate bar is considering legal action against the confectionary giant.

Lawyers for Catherine Henderson, 62, from Northern Ireland, said they are investigating the possibility of taking Cadbury’s to court after tests showed Mrs Henderson had been struck down by the same rare strain of salmonella found in its chocolate.

Cadbury’s recalled more than a million chocolate bars across seven product lines last month after a leaking pipe at its Herefordshire factory caused salmonella contamination.

Mrs Henderson’s solicitors said she was rushed to hospital after having trouble breathing and was kept on an isolation ward for five days where she was hooked up to a drip and given antibiotics.

Mrs Henderson, who said she had eaten a "Cadbury’s caramel bar", said: "I couldn’t believe what was happening to me. All of a sudden my legs went weak and I started finding it hard to breathe. My heart was racing and slowing down as if it was going to stop."

She was told by environmental health officials that her tests showed the presence of salmonella montevideo.

Lawyers said the Health Protection Agency had so far identified 31 people who had been infected with this strain of salmonella - which can cause diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, chills and headaches - and that one adult, one child and one infant had been admitted to hospital with the infection.

Sallie Booth, from law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: "This type of bug is extremely dangerous, especially to the most vulnerable in society - the very young and the very old.

"As chocolate is targeted mainly at children, the measures taken by Cadbury’s
should have been ultra-rigorous."

Last week Britain’s food standards watchdog said Cadbury failed adequately to assess the risk of salmonella in its chocolate.

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