Calcutta, Oct. 21: A consumer in Calcutta has complained that worms have been found in a Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bought from a shop near Lake Town on Sunday, a fortnight after a similar case was reported in Mumbai.

Gautam Ash, a resident of Patipukur in north Calcutta, bought five bars of Dairy Milk, one of which was found to be infested with worms. (Picture right)

A Cadbury India official in Calcutta said “at times, storage conditions at the retailers’ end may be responsible for such infestations”. He wondered how only one of the five bars had worms.

“I bought five Dairy Milk chocolates, priced Rs 5 each, on Sunday morning from a shop in Jawpur (near Lake Town in east Calcutta). My 10-year-old daughter took the free stickers given along with the chocolates and I distributed the bars among some of my friends as Bijoya gifts,” Ash said today.

Ash, an assistant professor of anatomy at the National Institute of Homeopathy, had gone to Jawpur to check the construction of a building where he had booked a flat six months ago.

“Today, I received a call from my friends in Jawpur who wanted to know the shop from where I bought the chocolates. I was told that one of their employees had found worms in a chocolate. Since I was in college, I sent my wife, Moumita, to identify the shop,” he added.

She traced the shop, located opposite a club, and the shop-owner, Shanti Chakraborty, confirmed that he had sold five small Dairy Milk bars on Sunday morning.

“We pursued the matter with the shop-owner, who contacted the distributor and some officials of the company. They came to meet us today and wanted to take away the worm-infested chocolate. We did not agree to it. They promised to come back with senior Cadbury officials on Wednesday,” said Probir Kundu, whose employee Biplab claimed to have found the worms.

“We (Kundu and friends) had distributed the chocolates among our children, besides giving one to Biplab. He found worms in the chocolate and kept it to show us,” Kundu added.

A Cadbury India spokesperson said from Mumbai: “Senior officials in the Calcutta office are empowered to take action after conducting on-the-spot analysis.”

In Maharashtra, following complaints of worm infestation from consumers in Andheri and Pune, the Food and Drugs Administration department has decided to prosecute Cadbury India. The decision was taken after samples were collected and tests conducted.