Production resumed this Wednesday at the Buitoni pizza factory in Caudry (North), belonging to the Nestlé group, which had been closed for nine months after serious cases of poisoning by the Escherichia coli bacterium. Only one of the two production lines works, the one where the frozen pizzas with cooked dough are made, authorized to reopen since a decision by the prefecture on December 16, Nestlé said.
The line that produces raw dough pizzas from the Fraîch’Up range, suspected of having caused the death of two children and the poisoning of dozens more, does not have authorization. It remains suspended “until further notice,” said Laurent Manologlou, a spokesman for Buitoni.
“We don’t know how consumers will react”
Production restarts first for three days, before a one-week interruption already scheduled for the holidays. It will resume in early January 2023, according to the same source. The pizzas produced in this way, the Fiesta, Grandiosa and Four à pierre ranges, intended for sale in France, should hit the shelves within three months.
“This is good news, but we don’t know how consumers will react,” reacted Stéphane Derammelaere, Force Ouvrière’s representative at the factory. “We remain concerned about the future.” An agreement was signed on December 1 to allow early retirement “on a voluntary basis,” Nestle said.
According to FO, out of 185 employees, there could be around 60 voluntary departures, including 40-45 people likely to retire early, while negotiations must be opened for departures to other Nestle factories or other projects. After searches at Caudry and at Nestlé’s headquarters in Hauts-de-Seine, a judicial investigation was opened in mid-May, in particular for involuntary manslaughter against one person and involuntary injury against 14 others.
The prefecture, which had pointed to “the presence of rodents” and the “lack of maintenance and cleanliness” to explain the closure, estimated on December 16 that “control of the production conditions of the pizzas” had already been achieved. ” on the line of cooked pasta. “The cleaning of the production lines is still done internally, there are new standards but we continue with the same cleaning time as before, that will be a point to raise”, stressed Stéphane Derammelaere.
Source: BFM TV
