JEDDAH, 15 October 2007 — Candies and chocolates are compulsory elements of the Eid celebration. This year, however, Saudi consumers are more cautious and selective over chocolates they purchase as a result of last year’s case of salmonella-infected chocolate from a British confectionery giant.

The Cadbury chocolate case happened last year resulting in the company recalling more that one million infected chocolate bars.

The contamination was caused by a leaking pipe at Cadbury’s Marlbrook plant, near Leominster, Herefordshire.

Local media, Arabic blogs and Internet sites revived the story in cartoons and columns and created panic during this season of high demand for chocolates.

This wave of revived publicity has resulted in a decline in chocolate sales during this Eid season especially from candy and nut stalls that operate during the last 10 days of Ramadan to cater only for Eid demand.

“Every customer asks about the origin of our chocolate,” said Mashhour Al-Harthi, the owner of a candy stall in Jeddah’s downtown Balad district.

He said that usually the stalls sell more chocolates than candies but this year people were very choosy and demanding candies more than chocolates.

“Even though we explain that most of the chocolates we sell are made in Saudi Arabia, some people still get suspicious,” he said, adding that once a customer asked him to present a purchase bill to make sure that the chocolates were made in Saudi Arabia.

Salman Al-Nofali, a Saudi vendor in Balad, said that when he spotted a decline in demand for chocolates during the first days of operation, he filled his stall with more candies.

“We all heard of the Cadbury case last year, but now it’s over. Yet people are scared because of the propaganda which really has no authenticity,” he said, adding that this unnecessary public fear has caused them a loss in sales this year.

Abdul Khaliq Al-Zahrani, an official at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said that they had not received any warning about infected chocolates this year.

He added that all the goods, especially foodstuff, that is imported to the Kingdom goes through strict hygienic and quality regulations before it enters the market. “There is no reason to panic about any kind of chocolate in the market,” he added.