A legal investigation is being conducted regarding the French pizza plant, Nestle’s, which produced the Buitoni brand frozen pizzas implicated in the recent death of one person and the injury of fourteen others caused by E. coli infections. According to a spokesperson for the French prosecutor’s office, the case includes the charges of involuntary manslaughter, injury of fourteen other people, and numerous violations of food safety regulations.
E. coli is a diverse type of bacteria present in our environment and even in our intestines. However, a certain type of E. coli, known as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), can cause serious gastrointestinal infection. An E. coli infection can cause symptoms such as severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and a low-grade fever. While most healthy individuals are able to recover within 3-4 days of consuming the germ, some people, such as children and elderly people, or those with weakened immune systems, are susceptible to severe complications.
One complication which can occur is a type of kidney failure called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). Only 5-10% of people who contract STEC infection develop HUS. According to the CDC, the signs of HUS are “decreased frequency of urination, feeling very tired, and losing pink color in cheeks and inside the lower eyelids.” In addition, STEC infections can cause urinary tract infections and respiratory illnesses that may lead to pneumonia.
A Great Deal Still Needs to be Uncovered:
A public health ministry group’s investigations reports that they have detected 56 cases of E. coli infection, most of which are people between the ages of one and seventeen years old, linked to the unsanitary production conditions at Nestle’s pizza plant. In fact, according to some reports, allegedly regarding statements by past employees of Nestle’s pizza factory, the hygiene standards are very low. For example, one past employee is alleged to have said, “You go out with your shoes to smoke and you come back (to the factory floor) with them. People didn’t wash their hands.”
While much of the information about the alleged victims is being kept confidential, at least one of the lawyers prosecuting Nestle’s pizza factory claims that children who ate the contaminated Buitoni pizza have suffered brain, lung, and heart injuries as a result of serious E. coli infections.
Both the legal investigation and the outbreak investigation are currently underway and likely to take some time.
https://www.econotimes.com/Nestles-pizza-plant-under-probe-for-Ecoli-infection-link-1633517
