The health authorities have decided to press charges against the manufacturers of Twistees over plastic contamination last month.

A spokesman for the Environmental Health Directorate said legal action against Darrell Lea Foods would be taken in terms of the Food Safety Act. However, he would not say what the company will be charged with, citing “legal reasons”.

Batch BFF HD, expiring on October 16, 2011, was recalled by the Environmental Health Directorate when molten plastic was reported in a packet on July 19.

Company director Steve Calleja said then that a plastic bucket on the production line had fallen into the oven when the batch in question was being baked, melting with the cheesy snack. He said the company had noticed the defect soon after and managed to contain most of the stock inside the factory, adding that only 250 packets remained unaccounted for.

The health directorate, however, disputed this claim, pointing out that 35,088 packets in the affected batch had been “produced and sold”. After a consumer reported the plastic part, the company was told to recall the product. A total of 838 packets were recovered, leaving 34,250 packets in the batch unaccounted for, the directorate said.