Nestlé France compensates victims of Buitoni pizza E.coli scandal in amicable agreement

2023-04-17 17:08:00

The French branch of Nestlé has pledged to compensate dozens of victims of the Buitoni pizza scandal contaminated by the E.coli bacteria, as part of an “amicable compensation” agreement signed on March 31, ending this civil component. of the case, the parties announced on Monday without disclosing the amount.

“In order to contribute, within a reasonable time, to the appeasement of the victims and their families, Nestlé France has decided to enroll in an amicable compensation process,” said Nestlé France. Two children died and dozens of others fell seriously ill after the ingestion in 2022 of pizzas from the Fraîch’Up range of Buitoni, a subsidiary of Nestlé.

“Each of the people concerned will receive from Nestlé France a compensation proposal, which will follow a medical evaluation and which will take into account, in an equitable manner, the seriousness of the damage and each situation”, underlined the subsidiary of the Swiss giant. , the world’s number one agrifood company.

This process must “ultimately allow fair compensation commensurate with their damages”, said in a separate press release the lawyer Pierre Debuisson, who represents 63 victims.

Me Debuisson had sued Nestlé for “gross negligence” before the Nanterre court and asked for compensation of up to 250 million euros for his customers.

The hearing was set for May 9. The amicable agreement suspends this assignment.

“In the context of civil procedure, amicable agreements are usual and make it possible to put an end to civil litigation without extinguishing the criminal action” which, it, “follows its course”, specified Nestlé to AFP.

Judicial information was opened in May 2022 in Paris, in particular for manslaughter of two victims and involuntary injuries to 14 others, according to a judicial source.
Nestlé has not yet been indicted.

The Caudry factory definitively closed

On March 18, 2022, the group recalled its pizzas and closed the two production lines of the Buitoni pizza factory in Caudry (Nord), after serious cases of poisoning by the Escherichia coli bacteria and the death of two children.

On April 1, the prefecture had banned all activity there, the health authorities having established a link with the consumption of Fraîch’Up pizzas.

A year after the affair, Nestlé announced at the end of March the permanent closure of the Caudry factory, which had partially restarted in mid-December, citing a drop in sales.