A Bradford food firm has been ordered to destroy 20 tons of chilli powder after one bag was found to be contaminated with salmonella.

A judge in Southampton made the destruction order against P&B Foods Ltd, of Planetrees Road, off Leeds Road, yesterday.

Southampton Port Health Authority applied for the order after testing a shipment of the product from Pakistan in February this year.

Chilli powder arriving into the dock was being routinely checked at the height of the sudan red food scare.

Five 25kg bags from a total of 876, worth around £15,000 to P&B Foods Ltd, were tested revealing that although none were contaminated with sudan red food colouring, one was contaminated with salmonella.

Due to a legal error the product was released to its proposed buyer in Blackburn, before the Port Health Authority put a holding notice prohibiting any movement.

P&B Foods then carried out tests on a further 55 bags, two of which were shown to be contaminated.

At Southampton Magistrates Court yesterday Ethu Crorie, representing P&B Foods Ltd, proposed that every bag be tested for salmonella contamination and that only those found to be contaminated should be destroyed.

He added that the product could also be heat treated to eliminate traces of salmonella but conceded the company did not have the resources to carry out the heat treatment and that the end user would have to do so.

But Andy Forrest, for the city council's Port Health Authority, argued that it was a matter of public health and that all the bags should be destroyed.

He added that testing a sample of any bag could not determine whether or not the whole bag was safe.

"It may appear we are being pernickety to destroy it all, but when it comes to public health I think your honour is entitled to be pernickety and has a duty to be so," he told deputy district judge Stephen Nicholl.

Ordering that all the chilli powder be destroyed, the judge said: "Any test carried out will not necessarily show that the whole of the consignment or particular bag was free from salmonella. That is the heart of the matter.

"Therefore I do not propose to go down that route." Ged Burden, Environmental Health Officer for the Port Health Services, who carried out the initial analysis of the chilli powder, said: "The Port Health Authority is very pleased with this outcome.

"Finding contamination in imported foods through examination and testing is an important part of our role in protecting public health.

"Not only does this prevent potential cases of food poisoning but also serves to raise the standards of imported foods.

P&B Foods were also ordered to pay legal costs of £1,000.