Health authorities have established a link between frozen pizzas from the Buitoni brand, from the Nestlé group, and several serious cases of contamination by the bacterium Escherichia coli, while dozens of French children fell ill, and two died.
Since the end of February, France has experienced a resurgence of cases of haemolytic and uremic syndromes (HUS) linked to contamination with E. coli. These cases, which cause kidney failure, occur in children. According to Public Health France, 75 cases are under investigation as of this Wednesday, including 41 for which “similar” hemolytic and uremic syndromes have been identified, and 34 for which additional analyzes are in progress.
Sick children are between 1 and 18 years old. Two children have died, although the connection to the pizzas has not been confirmed in either case. Analyzes confirm “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 press release the General Directorate of Health, which depends on the government, while a massive recall of these pizzas was launched two weeks ago. “Today we do not understand what could have happened, but we are going to develop an analysis protocol that we will submit to the authorities.“, said for his part Jérôme Jaton, industrial general manager of Nestlé, during a press conference on Wednesday.
Until now, the French health authorities considered that there was a “possible” link between these contaminations and the pizzas of the Fraîch’Up range. Without waiting, they had launched the recall of pizzas in mid-March, asking consumers to destroy them if they had any in their freezers. Now, the link is confirmed with some contaminations.
What about in Belgium?
We contacted the AFSCA, the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain. These pizzas are also sold in Belgium. Is there a health risk for consumers? “In Belgium, there are no reports of cases in connection with this contamination declared in France“says Aline Van Broeck, spokesperson for the FASFC. “What was done as a preventive measure was the recall, from March 21, of three types of Buitoni brand pizzas to be sure not to endanger the consumer. We are obviously following this file very closely.“
The FASFC insists on the fact that no case linked to contamination following the consumption of pizzas of this brand has been identified in Belgium.
Factory closed in France
Since March 18, Nestlé has closed two production lines at its factory near Caudry (North) in order to carry out analyses, explained Jérôme Jaton. “We have no information on the links between the pizzas and the infected people.“, says the general manager in charge of communication of Nestlé France, Pierre-Alexandre Teulié. “We are ready to question ourselves completely on the potential causes“, assures Jérôme Jaton, who does not exclude contamination at the level of the pizza dough. The range of Fraîch’Up pizzas is available in nine different tastes, raclette, kebab, 4 cheeses, etc.
Nestlé claims to produce between 100 and 150,000 pizzas per week. Health authorities point out the need to consult a doctor in the event of the onset, within ten days after eating the pizza, of diarrhea, abdominal pain or vomiting. The consultation is also necessary if, within 15 days, signs of great fatigue, pallor, or a decrease in the volume of urine, which become darker, appear. “In the absence of symptoms within 15 days of consumption, it is also reminded that there is no need to worry“, explains the DGS (General Directorate of Health, in France).