Confectionery giant Cadbury is set to be prosecuted under British environmental laws over last year's food scare involving chocolate contaminated with salmonella.
More than a million Cadbury bars were pulled out of the shops across Britain over fears that they may have been contaminated.
Sources close to the investigation told The Guardian that officials are close to finalising the lengthy and complex process of interviewing and evidence-gathering.
"Things are coming to a head and the evidence is being finalised," a source said. Officers have been
investigating the likely cause of the original contamination, focusing on leaky factory pipes and questionable hygeine standards.
"They have also been trying to establish why the company failed to alert government health authorities such as the Food Standards Agency and the Health Protection Agency after finding it had a salmonella problem at its Marlbrook plant near Leominister in Hereforshire in January last year."
The company admitted to the contamination after an alert from the HPA six months later. The HPA was concerned about an unusual rise in human cases of Salmonella montevideo.
