Cadbury invites ridicule with 'milk' warning on Dairy Milk bars

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic, 12 January 2009, 09:00am

LONDON - In what appears to be a case of stating the blindingly obvious, Cadbury is to print the warning "contains milk" on bars of Dairy Milk, despite the presence of the name and the logo, which depicts a glass and a half of milk being poured into a chunk of chocolate.

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The warning is being introduced on wrappers to meet legal requirements, according to the company.

"We want people to know allergens are listed on all products," Cadbury said.

The warning will be made on wrappers in capital letters encased in yellow boxes saying "Contains: Milk".

Cadbury is also introducing a warning on bars of Dairy Milk Whole Nut, saying "Contains: Nuts, milk".

Moira Austin, of the Anaphylaxis Campaign, a group which works to support people who suffer risk from life-threatening allergic reactions, also known as anaphylactic shock, suggested Cadbury was going one step too far with its new wrapper warnings.

Austin said: "The law requires manufacturers to list allergens if they are an ingredient. It does not require these additional warnings.

"I suspect Cadbury has a policy of listing allergens clearly on all its products so that people know where to look."

Cadbury's move is not unprecedented, after Tesco put labels on milk cartons saying they contained milk three years ago, and also warned that bags of assorted nuts contained nuts.

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All Comments

Greg Lusk - 12 January 2009

what is the world coming to?

makes you want to up sticks, move to a deserted island and live a life of solitude!

Ben Cook - 12 January 2009

I have a terrible nut allergy and the other week nearly died after eating a packet of peanuts... I was looking to sue KP but couldn't as they'd covered themselves with the warning 'contains nuts' on the side of the packet.

Richard Johnston - 12 January 2009

Since Cadbury always run ads saying that Dairy Milk contains milk, isn't this just a piece of branding masquerading as an official stamp?

Robert Clements - 12 January 2009

Why not have a warning label saying do not feed to dogs!

Greg Felgate - 12 January 2009

Of course its a stunt! Designed to spark debate like this!

Mark Leong - 12 January 2009

i think these regulations are just making people stupider by the minute. if someone cannot establish that a bag of nuts contains nuts and a milk chocolate bar contains milk then he or she ought to be flipping removed from the gene pool anyway!

Julian Wakeley - 13 January 2009

I always thought the Gorilla ad needed a warning on it ('May cause drowsiness', or 'people with an aversion to Phil Collins or the 80s, look away now'), and now I know what the warning is... pathetic. The doggie danger logo is a good idea, though. However, it is a pity that the purity of packaging design has to get lost in the mire of warning people against doing something they should have the good sense to avoid in the first place. Soon there will be no place for the brand on the packaging, just warnings for stupid people. 'This bar of chocolate is closer than it may appear..., it might poke your eye out' etc...