Business secretary Lord Mandelson has taken the highly unusual step of placing Kraft 'on report' to make sure it does not renege on pledges it made to MPs this week to protect Cadbury jobs and factories.

The American food maker, headed by Irene Rosenfeld, has been warned the government will go public with instances where promises are broken in a bid to shame it into good behaviour, according to the Daily Mail.

The new hardline approach reveals a government determined to show it is no longer a soft touch when it comes to foreign raiders trying to take control of crown-jewel business assets. Sources close to Mandelson say Kraft executives will be hauled in to what could be monthly appraisals.

And if it is deemed to have broken the covenants set out at a stormy parliamentary committee on Tuesday it will have those transgressions aired publicly.

The source said: "They [Kraft] have agreed to engage with the department in this way and if it becomes clear they are not meeting their commitments that information would be made public. The details of the meetings would not be hushed up and kept behind closed doors. There is a lot of anxiety about this takeover bid which is one of the reasons these meetings are being arranged. However the frequency has yet to be decided."

Critics have dismissed the Kraft ultimatum as a PR stunt that will play well in the Midlands, the spiritual home of Cadbury as well as the location of some key Labour seats.

Read more
Kraft insists 'no more lay-offs' after Somerdale apology (17 March 2010)
Kraft chiefs face Commons grilling over Somerdale closure (15 March 2010)
Kraft facing probe over Somerdale closure U-turn (9 March 2010)
Kraft signals first Cadbury lay-offs after takeover (4 March 2010)

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