Graphic animal rights flyer found in Cadbury selection box

The campaign leaflet was found in a Dairy Milk selection box

A man has said he was "disgusted" after discovering an animal rights campaign leaflet in his four-year-old son's chocolate selection box.

Tom Bettle said he found the Viva leaflet with a picture of a slaughtered calf within a Cadbury box bought at a Tesco store near Southampton.

Cadbury insisted it could not have been added during the production process. Tesco said it would investigate.

Viva said it encouraged its supporters to carry out leafleting responsibly.

Mr Bettle, from East Boldre in the New Forest, bought the Freddo selection box from the Tesco store at Dibden Purlieu store as a Christmas stocking filler for his son.

He said the leaflet, which criticised Cadbury's animal welfare standards, just "fell out" when it was opened. The box was not cellophane-wrapped.

"I've no problem with vegans or vegetarians, but I was disgusted and disappointed that someone would put something like that in a children's product - it was upsetting."

He said his son did not see the graphic image on the flyer.

Justin Kerswell, campaign manager for Bristol-based Viva said he had not heard of similar cases and it was not a current campaign, although the leaflet was still available to order and download from the charity's website.

'Not Cadbury farm'

"We always encourage responsible distribution of awareness raising materials.

"We haven't directly asked people to place these leaflets alongside Cadbury's products in supermarkets. However, we do believe that people should know where their food comes from, as there is a good deal of ignorance around dairy production in the UK."

A Cadbury spokesman confirmed the leaflet was "not included in the original packaging on any of our sites".

He said the image on the leaflet was not taken on a farm supplying milk for chocolate making.

"We purchase milk from hundreds of farms across the UK and all our suppliers are required to comply with all applicable laws on animal welfare and best practice in line with international guidelines," he added.

A Tesco spokesperson said: "We will investigate this isolated incident to check if there's anything we can do to prevent this from happening again."