Nestlé closes factory in France after contaminated pizzas – 03/30/2023 – Market

The Nestlé group announced this Thursday (30) the definitive closure of a Buitoni brand product factory in Caudry, northern France, a year after contaminated pizzas caused the death of two minors and dozens of poisonings.

In a note to AFP, the company justified the closure by falling sales and said it will launch a process to try to find a buyer for the factory, its priority in the coming months.

“No layoffs will be notified before December 31, 2023,” said the Swiss giant, which promised to offer its 140 permanent staff an opportunity to relocate internally.

The factory produced Buitoni Fraîch’Up frozen pizzas, which may have caused the death of two children and the intoxication of dozens of other consumers by the Escherichia coli bacteria.

The case dates back to February 2022, when the French health inspection and the anti-fraud directorate were alerted to the resurgence of cases of kidney failure in children due to contamination by E. coli.

On March 18, 2022, Nestlé withdrew the pizzas from the market and stopped production. The mayor’s office banned any activity at the factory after health officials linked pizza consumption to several serious cases of poisoning.

Paris prosecutors have opened a manslaughter investigation into the two deaths and involuntary injuries to 14 others, according to a judicial source.

The group stated that flour contamination would be the most likely explanation for the presence of the bacteria in their pizzas, but according to the city hall, the sanitary inspection revealed the presence of rodents and a lack of maintenance and cleanliness in the production areas.

“I’m going to reorient myself, but I’m 50 years old. At the factory we are already older, it will be very difficult”, lamented Christophe Dumez, kitchen assistant for 30 years at the establishment, who met this Thursday with other workers in front of the factory .