FAMILIES and businesses are being warned about the dangers of bootleg chocolate.

Essex Trading Standards team is reminding Essex businesses and residents about the danger of counterfeit food after they seized a batch of fake Wonka Bars at an unamed shop.

The bars were labelled as milk and white chocolate Wonka Bars, which the manufacturer stopped making three years ago.

Having visited the shop, Trading Standards officers found a number of these bars on sale.

The owner of thebusiness said he had bought the products from a man who had visited the store, selling chocolate.

The owner received no invoice or receipt, did not know the seller’s name or contact details.

Officers discovered the packaging included a fake address and because the team could not be sure of the origin of the bars, they were destroyed.

The team did not have any reason to believe the chocolate was unsafe, but because they did not know where it came from they could not be sure it was made in hygienic conditions, or the allergen advice was correct.

Roger Walters, county councillor for Trading Standards, said: “We are using this case to encourage all businesses to only buy from reputable suppliers.”