The Paris prosecutor’s office announced this Friday evening, April 1, that an investigation had been opened for “manslaughter”, “deception” and “endangering others” after several serious cases of contamination by the bacterium Escherichia coli possibly linked to the consumption of Buitoni frozen pizzas.
The investigation led by the public health center (PSP) of the Paris prosecutor’s office has been open since March 22.
The health authorities have already announced on Wednesday that they have established a link between the consumption of frozen pizzas of the Buitoni brand and several serious cases of contamination.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office clarified that “the PSP, on divestiture of the Nancy and Saint-Malo public prosecutor’s offices and in application of its jurisdiction in matters of offenses affecting health” had taken up the investigation.
In France, a dozen children fell ill and two died as a result of contamination with E.Coli bacteria.
Two Buitoni production lines closed
The Paris public prosecutor’s office specifies that the investigation relates to the offenses of “cheating on goods, display or sale of corrupt or falsified food products which are harmful to health, placing on the market of a product detrimental to health, putting danger to others, unintentional injury and manslaughter.
Although the PSP is leading the investigation, the latter has been entrusted to several institutions, the Central Office for the Fight against Damage to the Environment and Public Health (Oclaesp), the General Directorate of the Gendarmerie, the Investigations Service of the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) and the National Brigade for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Investigations (BNEVP) of the Ministry of Agriculture
Analyzes “have confirmed a link between several cases and the consumption of frozen pizzas from the Fraîch’Up range of the Buitoni brand contaminated with Escherichia coli bacteria”, announced Wednesday in a press release the General Directorate of Health, which depends on the government.
Nestlé had closed two production lines located in Caudry (Nord) which manufacture these frozen pizzas marketed mainly in France.
Since the end of February, France has experienced an upsurge in cases of hemolytic and uremic syndromes (HUS) linked to contamination with the bacterium E. coli. Santé Publique France said 75 cases were under investigation.