Yasmina Kattou, edited by Juline Garnier 8:16 p.m., May 06, 2022, modified at 8:17 p.m., May 06, 2022

After the Fraîch'Up range, another range of the Buitoni brand is accused of being contaminated with E.coli bacteria.

The repression of fraud ensures however that there is for the moment no link established between these pizzas and the poisonings identified.

A provisional verdict which raises questions, in particular on the controls carried out in the production factories.

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Are there any deficiencies in the health checks?

After a new complaint was filed against the Buitoni brand, this time for another of its pizza ranges, the Bella Napoli, the production plants came under scrutiny from the health authorities.

And the methods raise questions.

Indeed, since the mad cow crisis, and to guarantee a continuous monitoring process, the authorities ask manufacturers to check themselves in the event of contamination.

The factory is supposed to warn the public authorities to trigger the withdrawal of the product.

The authorities only intervene if there is self-reporting.

Why ?

Because there is a lack of investigators at the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control, the DGCCRF.

Fewer investigators

"We have a bit of the same approach in the end as the policeman on the side of the road. The less we see people, the less we are afraid of them. It is true that if there was a strong pressure of controls, maybe d “Other arrangements would be made,” analyzes Johann Pascot, general secretary of the CFTC union at the DGCCRF.

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In almost 20 years, the number of investigators has fallen sharply.

"To give you an idea, when I arrived at the DGCCRF in 2005, there were just over 4,000 agents. Today, we are on average at less than 3,000. Knowing that in these 3,000, of course, there there are not only investigators", he laments.

Regarding the Buitoni factory, there was no self-reporting from the manufacturer.

It was the proliferation of poisonings and consumer alerts that prompted the DGCCRF to carry out an inspection.