The Nestlé brand acknowledged a mistake and said “to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The family of a little girl contaminated with E. coli bacteria after eating a Buitoni pizza received a 20-euro voucher for this Nestlé brand, which its officials acknowledged on Monday by pleading the error. “This should not have been done and we would like to offer our most sincere apologies to this consumer who may have been offended by the receipt of these vouchers.“, told AFP a spokesperson for Buitoni. “We will make sure this does not happen again“, he added.
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Residing in Vienne, this mother of a seven-year-old girl told AFP that she had received this voucher by e-mail on Friday, confirming information from the Voice of the North. She had received a call from Buitoni’s consumer service the day before. The child was hospitalized for two days in mid-March for pyelonephritis and “came close to sepsis“, according to his mother. “It’s an additional pain (…) For them, my daughter’s pain is worth 20 euros“, was indignant Sonia, who does not wish to give her name.
53 confirmed cases of contamination
“The person received vouchers, as is the case for people requesting a refund for their pizzas following the mass recallof this product, explained the Buitoni spokesperson. This family had made a report on the public service site SignalConso, triggering the recall by Buitoni, he said.
The consumer service personasked me to report everything that may have happened concerning my daughter and whether, for the purposes of the investigation, it was possible to access her medical file in the coming days“said Sonia. “Find the pretext of compensation to request information, we find it quite scandalous“, was indignant with AFP Me Richard Legrand, who represents the family of Sonia among fifteen others affected. Those are “fairly confidential information, covered by medical secrecy“, he underlined.
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On March 18, Nestlé announced the withdrawal-recall of Buitoni pizzas from the Fraîch’Up range, after being informed of the presence of the bacteria in the dough of a product. In France, 53 cases of contamination are now confirmed according to the latest point from Public Health France, and two children have died, even if the link with pizzas has not been confirmed. On March 22, an investigation for “manslaughter», «deception” and “endangering the life of otherswas opened at the Public Health Department of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office.
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