The Nestlé group has announced the definitive closure of a Buitoni branded product factory in the Caudry region of northern France. The closure comes a year after contaminated pizzas caused dozens of people to become intoxicated.
Nestlé justified the closure by the drop in sales and said it will launch a process to try to find a buyer for the factory, its “priority in the coming months”, it said in a note sent to the news agency. France-Presse.
“No dismissal will be notified before December 31, 2023,” said the Swiss company, which promised to offer its staff of 140 permanent employees “an opportunity for internal relocation”.
The factory produced Buitoni Fraîch’Up branded frozen pizzas. In 2022, contamination by the bacteria Escherichia coli may have caused the death of two children. At the time, Nestlé withdrew the pizzas from the market and stopped production.
A city hall banned any activity at the factory after health officials linked pizza consumption to several serious cases of poisoning.
The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened a manslaughter investigation into the two deaths and involuntary injuries to 14 others.
The group stated that “flour contamination” would be the “most likely” explanation for the presence of the bacteria in their pizzas, but according to the city hall, the health inspection revealed a “lack of maintenance and cleanliness in the production areas”.