2023-04-17 18:40:46
The French branch of Nestlé has pledged to compensate dozens of victims of the Buitoni pizza scandal contaminated with E.coli bacteria, as part of an agreement “amicable compensation” signed on March 31 and closing this civil part of the case, the parties announced on Monday April 17, without disclosing the amount.
“In order to contribute, within a reasonable time, to the appeasement of the victims and their families, Nestlé France has decided to enroll in an amicable compensation process”, said the French subsidiary. Two children died and dozens of others fell seriously ill after the ingestion, in 2022, of pizzas from the Fraîch’Up range of Buitoni, a subsidiary of Nestlé.
“Each of the persons concerned will receive from Nestlé France a compensation proposal, which will follow a medical assessment and which will take into account, in an equitable manner, the seriousness of the damage and each situation”underlined the subsidiary of the Swiss giant, world number one in the food industry.
Amicable agreement
This process should “allow in the long term a fair reparation commensurate with their damages”, said in a separate statement the lawyer Pierre Debuisson, who represents 63 victims. Me Debuisson had summoned Nestlé to ” heavy mistake “ before the Nanterre court and demanded compensation of up to 250 million euros for its customers.
The hearing was set for May 9. The amicable agreement suspends this assignment. “In the context of civil procedure, amicable agreements are usual and make it possible to put an end to civil litigation without extinguishing the criminal action” who she, “takes its course”Nestlé told AFP.
Factory closed
Judicial information was opened in May 2022 in Paris, in particular for manslaughter of two victims and involuntary injuries to 14 others, according to a judicial source. Nestlé has not yet been indicted.
On March 18, 2022, the group recalled its pizzas and closed the two production lines of the Buitoni pizza factory in Caudry (Nord), after serious cases of poisoning by the Escherichia coli bacteria and the death of two children. On April 1, the prefecture had banned all activity there, the health authorities having established a link with the consumption of Fraîch’Up pizzas. A year after the affair, Nestlé announced at the end of March the permanent closure of the Caudry factory, which had partially restarted in mid-December, citing a drop in sales.
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