“I am waiting for a strong signal to be sent by justice. We can no longer play like that with people’s health. “This Thursday, Pierre Hinard will be at the Nantes criminal court to attend the trial of the Castel Viandes company and three of its leaders, prosecuted in the so-called “repackage” case, spoiled meat which would have been resold despite everything. to be consumed there between 2010 and 2013. The 50-year-old will not be a spectator like the others. Today organic salers cow breederIn Saint-Aubin-des-Châteaux (Loire-Atlantique), he filed a civil action so that the “truth be restored”.
It is he who is at the origin of the Castel “scandal”, important slaughterhouse of Châteaubriantnorth of Nantes, first alerting the veterinary services in 2008 then, five years later, the gendarmerie, which finally launched an investigation. Recruited by Castel in 2006 as quality manager, Pierre Hinard had “first suspicions” of irregularities in 2007. “We had a steak problem at Flunch. The restaurant complained that customers had fallen ill. I tried to understand and I realized that it was not an accident. There was, behind my back, an organized system of reselling spoiled meat. »
“An hour later, I was summoned and fired”
The agronomist by training evokes “returns of unsold items which were recut and reshipped”, “stained and smelly processed meats”, “maggots which fell into the chopping machine”, “breaks in the cold chain”, “bacteriological analyzes which were falsified”… “For the management it was never serious. She told me that at worst the consumers would have a good diarrhea. The answer was always economic. We had to sell the stock, ”says Pierre Hinard.
The executive accepts a time to be silent. Until the reshipment in December 2018 of an “umpteenth batch” which he had however “put in destruction a year before”. “I didn’t want to be responsible for children who die or become seriously ill. I went to tell everything to the veterinary inspector. An hour later, I was summoned by my management and fired*. Castel was protected by an enormous network of influence. I learned it the hard way. »
“The state has neither the will nor the means to control”
Isolated, criticized by employees and even taken to court by his former employer, Pierre Hinard tries to work as best he can on his own until the media explosion of the case in 2013, then the publication of a book Omerta on the meat, a witness speaks the next year. “We had to go through it to protect lives. They pointed the finger at me, made me out to be a liar. But I was only a witness. You have to realize that Castel is being prosecuted for faults committed after my dismissal. It means that there was no questioning. It’s insane. »
Bitter, including vis-à-vis the agricultural authorities whom he reproaches for not having supported him, Pierre Hinard fears that the Castel episode is not an isolated case in France. “With money at stake, the temptation to cheat is very strong. And the state has neither the will nor the means to control as it should. When we see the Buitoni pizza affair recently, it obviously brings back memories. All of this could be avoided. It turns me around. »
* Pierre Hinard was officially dismissed for serious misconduct due to “incompetence”. He challenged his dismissal before the Labor Court in 2019 but was dismissed at first instance. His appeal was heard on March 22. The decision is expected on July 8.