Cadbury failed adequately to assess the risk of salmonella in its chocolate, the food standards watchdog said today.

The food manufacturer apparently used "unreliable" methods which may have underestimated the level and likelihood of contamination.

Cadbury first discovered salmonella in some products - which were destroyed - in April 2002, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said today. The company recently pulled more than a million chocolate bars due to a salmonella scare.

The FSA’s independent advisory committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF) said that Cadbury’s method of salmonella risk assessment could not be relied on for foods such as chocolate.

After meeting to discuss the issue on Friday, the Committee said in a statement today: "Based on the information provided, Cadbury appears to have used methods for product testing which the committee considered would underestimate the level and likelihood of salmonella contamination."

The company’s risk assessment wrongly drew parallels between the threshold for salmonella infection and the threshold for infection by other micro-organisms which can be found in chocolate, the committee said.

In fact there is no minimum infectious dose for salmonella.

Other Cadbury’s products made with contaminated chocolate crumb could be a cause for concern, the committee warned.

Committee spokesman Professor Tom Humphrey said: "We think the testing methods were insufficiently up to date and insufficiently sensitive.

"We think they made a mistake in assuming there was a safe level of salmonella in a product like chocolate. Our view is that there isn’t."

The contamination - detected in January - was caused by a leaking pipe at the company’s huge Marlbrook plant in Herefordshire. Cadbury recalled more than a million chocolate bars across seven product lines on June 23.

The recalled products were: Cadbury Dairy Milk Turkish 250g; Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel 250g; Cadbury Dairy Milk Mint 250g; Cadbury Dairy Milk eight chunk; Cadbury Dairy Milk 1kg; Cadbury Dairy Milk Button Easter Egg 105g; Cadbury Freddo 10p.

Birmingham City Council’s public health officers are carrying out tests on about 30 more of the company’s products. Several other local authorities are involved in investigations.

Cadbury came under fire for not reporting the salmonella traces earlier on, although the firm’s senior executives insisted the chocolate bars were "perfectly safe".

The food giant pulled its sponsorship adverts for the soap Coronation Street because of the furore.

A Food Standards Agency spokesman today said the presence of salmonella in ready-to-eat foods such as chocolate was unacceptable at any level.

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