Sweet danger - negotiating trust in the Norwegian chocolate industry 1930-1990

The article deals with a local incident that took place in Norway in 1987. Then doctors and hospitals were contacted by parents with sick children. Samples taken from the children showed that they were infected by salmonella. Since these bacteria are rare in Norway, and because they can be fatal, the National Food Agency and the City Veterinarian immediately took action and started tracking the source of the contamination. One week later, the agencies reported that the bacteria had been detected in chocolate, produced by the local confectioner company. The incident, a potential threat to public health as well as the company's reputation and business, initiated a series of measures that had as its final goal to restore public trust. The article examines what happened and how various actors, institutions and the company worked to restore trust in the suspicious products. The main aim of the article is to show whether and how a broken trust regime was rebuilt.