One year after the scandal of contaminated Fraich’Up pizzas from Buitoni which resulted in the death of two children, Nestlé announced on March 30, 2023 the closure of the Caudry factory, where the famous pizzas had been produced.
[Mise à jour le 30 mars 2023 à 10h53] THURSDAY March 30, 2023, Nestle announced the permanent closure of the Buitoni factory in Caudryin the north. The group undertakes to offer the 140 employees “an opportunity for internal redeployment” reports BFM Business. It is in this factory that the contaminated pizzas were produced by bacteria Escherichia Colithe origin of scandal Buitoni. In march 2022, Buitoni (Nestlé group) recalls all its Fresh’Up pizzas After the occurrence of food poisoning in children and an adult. In the most severe forms, hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) has manifested. 55 children fell ill, two died. Yasmine Motarjemi, international food safety manager at Nestlé from 2000 to 2010 denounced for years of the “unethical practices“reported BFM TV in June 2022. According to her, the workers went into the toilets in their work clothes, which is prohibited. The frame was fired in 2010 for “difference of opinion”. What is the list pizza concerned? What is the E.coli bacteria? How can it cause death?
What is the Buitoni pizza scandal?
► In January 2022, several cases of pediatric haemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) and serious Escherichia coli infection have been reported in France to the French health authorities.
► End FEBRUARY, THE Ministry of Health reports 13 cases of HUS in childrenrelated to Escherichia coli bacteria with similar characteristics. THE first death is announced. The marque Buitoni is not yet cited. Several sources of contamination are being investigated, including the ingestion of contaminated food eaten raw or undercooked. THE March 11, THE ministry confirmed 26 cases of HUS and one second child death. No source of contamination has yet been incriminated.
► The March 18, Buitoni recalls all its Fraîch’Up frozen pizzas “after being informed of the presence of E-coli bacteria in the dough of a frozen pizza” of this range. THE March 22 and 29, two hygiene inspections take place in the Caudry plant where the contaminated pizzas are produced by the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations (DDPP) of the North and the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF).
► The March 30, Public Health France “confirm a link between several cases and the consumption of frozen pizzas from the Fraîch’Up range of the Buitoni brand contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli bacteria”. 41 cases of HUS are identified.
► The March, 31st, RMC unveils shocking images of the Buitoni factory of Caudry. It was a former factory employee who sent these images showing deplorable hygienic conditions: “When you see fungus on the wall, you know it’s wrong. The paint on the metal bars was peeling off. There were bits of food left in some places for several days, Several weeks. In sauce recovery bins, you could find cigarette butts. Where the flour is sent to the mats, so that the dough does not stick, there were mealworms.” he told our colleagues. Buitoni (Nestlé group) admitted that these photos were indeed taken in the factory but that it is not “never so dirty” usually. Nestlé has confirmed that the tests it carries out itself in its Caudry factory are negative.
Video of the Buitoni Caudry factory
Discover the images of the Buitoni factory in Caudry (Nord) where the pizzas of the Fraich’Up range are produced, accused by the health authorities of being the cause of the E.Coli bacteria poisoning of dozens of people. children and the death of two of them. pic.twitter.com/1pplkImmFP
— RMC (@RMCinfo) March 31, 2022
► April 6, the Nord prefecture publishes a decree prohibiting the production of pizzas in the Caudry factory.
► April 8, opening of an investigation for “manslaughter”, “deception” and “endangering others” against Buitoni.
► April 13: search of the Buitoni factory in Caudry and at Nestlé headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineauxin the Hauts-de-Seine.
► The May 5 : BFM-TV reports the case of a woman hospitalized after eating a Bella Napoli pizza produced by Buitoni. She was the victim of a food poisoning linked to the presence of E.coli bacteria like the previous victims. His condition eventually improved.
► March 30, 2023 : Nestlé announces the permanent closure of the Buitoni factory in Caudry.
What were the contaminated Buitoni pizzas?
The company Buitoni recalled on March 18, 2022 all the pizzas in the Fraîch’Up range, for example:
- Fresh’Up 4 cheeses
- Fresh’Up Royale
- Fresh’Up Chicken
- Fresh’Up Bolognese
- Fraîch’Up White Queen
- Fraîch’Up 3 meats
What bacterium was involved in the Buitoni scandal?
The bacterium Escherichia Coli. “E.coli” is a bacteria found in the gut of humans and some animals especially ruminants. When they are in the intestine, the majority of its strains are harmless and cause no symptoms. Some, however, are pathogens. They tolerate the cold well (survival of several days in a refrigerator) but normally not the strong cooking. The bacteria can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome (SHU), a infectious complication most often of food origin rare in France but severe.
How many people have been contaminated by Buitoni pizzas?
In his last update of May 2022Public Health France confirms 56 cases of HUS. These 56 cases occurred in 55 children and 1 adult, who presented symptoms between January 18 and April 5. THE epidemic peak is in week 7 (14/02 to 20/02) and in week 9 (28/02 to 06/03), with 10 cases each of these weeks. These 56 cases occurred in 12 regions of France Metropolitan: Hauts-de-France (12 cases), Ile-de-France (9 cases), New Aquitaine (8 cases), Pays de la Loire (7 cases), Brittany (6 cases), Grand Est (3 cases) , Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (3 cases), Occitanie (2 cases), Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (2 cases), Center Val-de-Loire (2 cases), Bourgogne Franche-Comté (1 case) and Normandy (1 case). The 55 sick children are aged between 1 and 17 with a median age of 6 years. Two children died. The adult did not present with HUS.
How many deaths in the Buitoni pizza affair?
According to Public Health France, two children died haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) after consuming the affected pizzas. It’s about a infectious complication most often of food origin rare in France but severe. We talk about a syndromeHemolytic” because it means that there is “a destruction of red blood cells” (responsible for anemia and a drop in platelets) and “uremic“because there isblood urea. Urea is a waste product from the body eliminated by the kidneys in the urine. Increased blood urea and other waste products such as creatinine indicate kidney failure.
Sources:
Investigation of grouped cases of hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) and shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) infections linked to the consumption of Buitoni® brand Fraîch’Up pizzas – Santé Publique France – April 25, 2022 .
Serious cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) in children: new cases reported, health authorities remind you of what to do. March 30, 2022. Public Health France.
Ministry of Health press releases.