CADBURY bosses yesterday admitted the salmonella scare has cost them £20MILLION. The firm recalled a million chocolate bars in June after the outbreak at a plant in Marlbrook, Herefordshire.

The recall cost £10million and the other half was down to advertising costs and "manufacturing improvements". Cadbury lost £5million in the week after the recall and total sales were down 14 per cent on last year due to the heatwave.

But they still made £402million in the first six months of this year. Food standards watchdogs are probing why the firm took SIX MONTHS to report contamination. They blamed the contaminated bars for an outbreak of a bug that made 30 people ill.

Catherine Henderson, 62, of Larne, Co Antrim, has threatened to sue Cadbury after suffering salmonella poisoning and several others are taking legal advice. Chief executive Todd Stitzer said the £20million figure may be higher if it included sales lost due to damage to the brand.

Cadbury will today launch a £5million marketing campaign to win back customers. Its Coronation Street ads will start again after being pulled during the outbreak. And five of the seven recalled products will go back on sale - Dairy Milk Turkish 250g, Dairy Milk Caramel 250g, Dairy Milk Mint 250g, Dairy Milk 8 Chunk and Dairy Milk 1kg.

William Grobel, of brand consultants Intangible Business, said: "There are unlikely to be any long-term repercussions."