The northern prefecture announced on Wednesday that it had banned the production of pizzas at the Buitoni factory in Caudry (Hauts-de-France), after a series of serious cases of contamination of children by the bacterium Escherichia coli. Several deaths could be linked to the consumption of these products.
As a reminder, since the end of February, France has experienced an upsurge in cases of kidney failure in children, linked to contamination with E. coli. The health authorities have confirmed that several of these cases are linked to the consumption of Fraîch’Up pizzas from Buitoni, produced at the Caudry site.
As part of this alert, “two in-depth hygiene inspections” were carried out on March 22 and 29 by agents from the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations (DDPP) in the North and the Directorate General for Competition, consumption and the repression of fraud (DGCCRF).
We would like to express our support for those affected. If you bought frozen Fraîch’Up before 03/18, we invite you not to consume them and to throw them away.
Our teams are at your disposal on 0800 22 32 42https://t.co/HxiSlqEakE pic.twitter.com/qhXXv5icRt
— Buitoni (@BuitoniFR) March 30, 2022
They showed “a degraded level of hygiene control” within the Caudry establishment, which led to the publication, on April 1, of a prefectural decree. The latter stipulates that “industrial food production activity” has been stopped “with regard to the two pizza production lines of the factory”.
The “presence of rodents and the absence of means of protection against the entry of pests and effective pest control adapted to a food activity” are particularly singled out. The decree also denounces the “lack of maintenance and cleaning of the manufacturing, storage and passage areas”.
The “compliance” of the factory required
So many anomalies which “constitute a significant 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”.
On March 31, the Nestlé group, which owns the Buitoni brand, had nevertheless assured that 75 samples taken in the factory were “all negative”. This Wednesday, April 6, in reaction to this prefectural decision, Buitoni declared: “Safety and quality remain our absolute priority”. The spokesperson for the company said it was “cooperating closely with the authorities as part of their investigation”, promising to work “on an action plan and appropriate measures”.
The prefecture will only authorize the resumption of production on the condition of “the compliance of the factory with its obligations in terms of food hygiene” and “of controls and control of microbiological risks “. At the same time, the investigation for “manslaughter”, “deception” and “endangering others” continues. Opened on March 22, it is led by the public health center of the Paris prosecutor’s office.