There is therefore a link between pizzas of the Buitoni brand (Nestlé) and certain recent cases of contamination with the bacterium Escherichia coli (better known under the name of E. coli) in French children. The health authorities attested to this on Wednesday, with supporting studies. Analysis “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 in a statement the Directorate General of Health, (DGS) while a massive recall of these pizzas has already been initiated for two weeks. An investigation for “manslaughter”, “deception” and “endangering others” has been opened, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Friday.
This investigation, conducted by the public health center of the Paris prosecutor’s office, has been open since March 22. Health authorities recently established a link between the consumption of these pizzas and several serious cases of contamination, while dozens of French children fell ill and two died.
Since the end of February, France has experienced an upsurge in cases of hemolytic and uremic syndromes (HUS) linked to contamination with E. coli. These cases, which cause kidney failure, occur in children “aged 1 to 18 years with a median age of 5.5 years”, specifies the DGS. Two died as a result of these contaminations. In total, the latest count reports this Wednesday of 41 serious cases, while 34 additional are being assessed.
75 cases in 12 French regions
These 75 cases occurred in 12 regions of metropolitan France: Hauts-de-France (16 cases), New Aquitaine (11 cases), Pays-de-La-Loire (10 cases), Ile-de-France -France (9 cases), Brittany (7 cases), Grand-Est (5 cases), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (4 cases), Centre-Val-de-Loire (4 cases), Provence-Alpes -Côte d’Azur (3 cases), Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (2 cases), Normandy (2 cases) and Occitanie (2 cases).
Until Wednesday, health authorities only believed there was a link “possible” between these contaminations and the pizzas of the Fraîch’Up range. They had therefore already carried out a massive recall in mid-March, asking consumers to destroy these products. At Nestlé (owner of the brand), however, they were confident in saying that“he [n’existait] no proven link between our products and the poisonings that occurred”, adding that the recall was a “Buitoni’s initiative in the name of the precautionary principle”. The link is therefore now established with certain contaminations, even if the authorities do not specify whether this is the case for those which caused the two deaths.
They recall the need to consult a doctor in the event of the appearance, within ten days after eating the pizza, of diarrhoea, abdominal pain or vomiting. The consultation is also necessary if, within a fortnight, signs of great fatigue, pallor or a decrease in the volume of urine, which become darker, appear. “In the absence of symptoms within a fortnight of consumption, it is also reminded that there is no need to worry”concludes the DGS.
Updated Friday, April 1, with the opening of an investigation for “manslaughter” by the Paris prosecutor’s office.