A woman is considering taking legal action if tests prove she contracted salmonella poisoning after eating a Cadbury’s chocolate bar.

Catherine Henderson, 62, of County Antrim, North Ireland, spent five days in hospital. Her lawyers said tests found she had the same strain of the bug. In a statement, Mrs Henderson’s solicitors Irwin Mitchell said she was rushed to hospital after having trouble breathing and was kept on an isolation ward for five days.

Mrs Henderson said she had eaten a Cadbury’s caramel bar.

A spokesman for legal firm Irwin Mitchell, David Standard, said: "We have strong medical evidence that Mrs Henderson’s illness is linked to the eating chocolate. "We are carrying out further medical test which should prove this link."

A Cadbury’s spokesman said: "Whilst we continue to work with the Food Standards Agency and local authorities, no link has been found between any incident of salmonella illness and our products. Minute traces of salmonella were found in a very few of hundreds of samples tested which we believe was well below the levels that would cause illness."