The health authorities have established a link between the consumption of pizzas produced in Caudry and several serious cases of contamination with E.coli bacteria.
Searches were carried out on Wednesday at the Buitoni factory in Caudry (Nord), where the Fraich’Up frozen pizzas are produced, suspected of having caused serious cases of contamination of children by the E. coli bacterium, and at the headquarters of Nestlé in Hauts-de-Seine, several sources told AFP.
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In Caudry, the gendarmes of the Central Office for the fight against attacks on the environment and public health (Oclaesp) landed in the morning. The search was carried out under the responsibility of the Paris prosecutor’s office, which opened an investigation, in particular for “manslaughter», «deception” and “endangering others“, said the gendarmerie, confirming information from the daily The voice of the North. The Paris prosecutor’s office, which opened its investigation on March 22 and entrusted to the public health center, confirmed to AFP that the operation was in progress.
The Oclaesp at the same time launched another search at the headquarters of Nestlé, in Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine). Information from Franceinfo confirmed by the Paris prosecutor’s office. According to a source familiar with the matter, Oclaesp conducted searches at four other professional sites and at homes in France.
The prefect of the North had prohibited by a prefectural decree on April 1 the production of pizzas within the factory of Caudry, following “two in-depth hygiene inspectionscarried out on March 22 and 29 by agents from the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations (DDPP) in the North and the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF). These inspectionsrevealed a degraded level of food hygiene control“, specified the decree.
“Presence of rodents” and “lack of maintenance”
They pointed out in particular:the presence of rodents and the absence of means of protection against the entry of pests and of effective pest control adapted to a food activity“, as well as the “lack of maintenance and cleaning of manufacturing, storage and passage areas“. These abnormalitiesconstitute an important source of microbiological, physical or chemical contamination of foodstuffs handled in the establishment, which therefore present or are likely to present a danger to the health of consumers“, According to the decree.
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Buitoni had then indicated “cooperate closely with the authorities in their investigation“to determine the origin of the E. Coli bacteria and work”on an action plan and appropriate measures following this prefectural decree».
Since the end of February, France has experienced a resurgence of cases of kidney failure in children linked to contamination with E. coli. Health authorities announced at the end of March that they had established a link between the consumption of pizzas produced in Caudry and several serious cases of contamination, while dozens of French children fell ill and two died.
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