Snickers recalled over NSW poison threat

Snickers recalled over NSW poison threat

Snickers recalled over NSW poison threat
21:55 AEST Fri Jul 1 2005


Tens of thousands of Snickers and Mars chocolate bars have been withdrawn from sale in NSW after the manufacturer was sent a letter threatening to poison a member of the public.

The letter followed another two sent to MasterFoods since May threatening a third party, the company said.

NSW Police and MasterFoods announced the recall after the letter was received at the company's Ballarat head office in Victoria.

The letter warned that up to seven Snickers and Mars bars in the metropolitan Sydney area had been contaminated.

MasterFoods Australia New Zealand president Andy Weston-Webb said the withdrawal of products from 5,500 retail outlets across the state was a precaution.

Police believed the products were randomly chosen and may have been tampered with, he said.

"No one should eat a Mars or Snickers bar that they've bought, please destroy it ... it's not safe to eat Mars or Snickers bars," he told reporters.

"Our one and only concern here is for public safety."

Mr Weston-Webb said there was no evidence the threat had been carried out and the company was not aware of anyone falling sick from eating the products.

NSW Police serious crime unit head Detective Superintendent Peter Cotter said MasterFoods had received "veiled threats" against a third party in the two previous letters.

One of the letters contained a Snickers bar contaminated with an unidentified substance.

"The substance of these letters were ramblings and the exact intent is not known," Supt Cotter told reporters.

"There is a foreign contaminant definitely within the bar. As to what that substance is, chemically or physically, we are not aware."

Police said the company did not withdraw the products from sale when the contaminated bar was received because it was deemed not to be a significant threat.

Supt Cotter said authorities in NSW and Victoria were working to track down the person behind the threats.

"MasterFoods and the NSW Police and all other agencies are working together to do our very best to catch this offender and get a very successful resolution to this as quickly as we can," he said.

An individual acting alone was believed to be responsible, he said.

The last serious threat to a food manufacturer was in January 2001 when Sanitarium received an extortion threat to contaminate some products. It followed a similar threat to the company in 1998.


©AAP 2005