SUGAR chiefs in a west Suffolk town last night pledged a safety review after a man was arrested on suspicion of product contamination.

The arrest of the 41-year-old man followed the discovery of 13 large powder-filled capsules in a sealed box of Silver Spoon icing sugar, which is produced in Bury St Edmunds.

When she discovered the pills on Monday, 31-year-old Tara Cason of Market Rasen in Lincolnshire contacted Tesco, from whom she bought the product, and the police.

On Tuesday, a man from Suffolk was arrested on suspicion of product contamination.

That man, who has not been identified, has since been released on police bail until September 21.

Tests carried out on the capsules have revealed they contained a powder which is harmless to the public.

Silver Spoon, which is supplied with sugar beet from across the region, last night moved to assure the public of the safety of its products.

A spokesman for British Sugar, which owns Silver Spoon, would not confirm whether or not the man was an employee at the Bury site.

He said: “I believe staff will be aware of it. We’ve carried out our own investigation and have found this was an isolated incident which poses no risk to the public.”

Asked whether the company will be carrying out a review of its policies and procedures, the spokesman confirmed they would be.

“We strive for continuous improvement as a matter of course.”

Mrs Cason, found the capsules as she and her daughter Charlotte were settling down for a “bake off” when they made the worrying discovery.

“I opened up the sugar, and was pouring it into the bowl to make some chocolate peppermints, then my daughter said ‘look mum, there’s peanuts in it’.

“She pointed them out and they were brown capsules. It’s so worrying, I didn’t know what was in them.”

The town’s British Sugar factory, which can be seen from miles away, was built in 1925. It employs 235 people and produces more than 300,000 tonnes of sugar each year.