Cadbury could be in the dock by Spring

Cadbury could be summoned to Birmingham Magistrates Court in a matter of weeks if the City Council gets the go-ahead to take legal action over last year's salmonella contamination.

The council's food safety team leader Nick Lowe, who has been investigating the incident for eight months, said: "We've got to get our file completed by early February to present to our senior management and a barrister. If everything is OK, it's lodged in court and a summons will be issued."

At issue is whether Cadbury breached EC 178/2002 (General Food Law) and/or EC 852/2004 (Hygiene of Foodstuffs) in its handling of the salmonella contamination at its Marlbrook factory.

Lowe declined to give details of the case against Cadbury, but said he felt that some "pretty crass decisions" had been made by the company during the incident.

Birmingham City Council was focusing on corporate handling of the incident, while Herefordshire Council was concentrating on hygiene practices at the Marlbrook chocolate crumb factory, said Lowe.

Darren Smith, a partner in law firm Reed Smith's product liability practice group, said: "The big risk will be that if legal action is unsuccessful, Cadbury could ask the councils to pay costs, which could be huge. In an action as high-profile as this, you can't afford to make mistakes."

The salmonella contamination was expected to cost the company £26M, of which just £6M will be covered by insurance.