Health authorities have begun a race against time to find infected customers of the Tchin Tchin Wine Bar. For its part, the Bordeaux public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into homicide and involuntary injuries on Friday September 15., after cases of botulism, including one fatality, linked to the consumption of canned sardines in a restaurant in the city.
This preliminary investigation, which also relates to facts of “placing on the market of foodstuffs harmful to health” and “sale of corrupt or toxic foodstuffs”, was entrusted to the judicial police, the Central Office for the fight against attacks to the environment and public health and the departmental directorate for population protection. The penalties incurred, depending on the leaders concerned, range between two and five years in prison and a fine of 45,000 to 600,000 euros.
The autopsy of the victim, a 32-year-old woman who died at her home in Paris, will take place this Friday and the results will be known at the beginning of next week, the prosecution said.
Fifteen cases identified
Other restaurant customers remain hospitalized, mainly in Bordeaux, for a total of fifteen cases recorded so far, according to a latest report on Friday. All these people have in common the fact that they ate homemade canned sardines in the same restaurant, the Tchin Tchin Wine Bar, between September 4 and 10 in Bordeaux.
Botulism is a rare and serious neurological condition, fatal in 5 to 10% of cases, caused by a very powerful toxin, produced by a bacteria which develops in poorly preserved foods due to lack of sufficient sterilization.
It causes eye problems (double vision), difficulty swallowing and, in advanced forms, paralysis of the muscles, particularly respiratory muscles, which can lead to death.