Chocolate poisoning in New South Wales

On Friday, MasterFoods ordered a recall of two of their most popular products, Snickers and Mars, after receiving a letter claiming that seven of them had been contaminated.

The manufacturer has been removing all the products from stores across New South Wales, and reported that since Friday they had received up to 2000 calls ab out this, including 19 people who had complained of feeling ill after eating the bars. Two people also went to Sydney hospital complaining of vomiting, but were not admitted.

MasterFoods regional president Andy Weston-Webb said "We do need to investigate whether there is a pattern. It's possible it has been linked to this. It's of course possible that it isn't, people do fall ill for a variety of reasons."

Over the weekend MasterFoods contacted more than 6000 retailers and removed more than 4000 charity boxes from NSW organisations. It has also removed the bars from vending machines and run full page adverts in main newspapers.

The threat, received by the company, was directed against a third party organisation and Sydney specifically but the products have been recalled across New South Wales as a precaution.

The Snickers and Mars recall only affects New South Wales, and currently it is not known when Snickers and Mars bars will be back on the shelves in NSW.