In addition to France, Belgium and Luxembourg, where they were subject to a recall, these pizzas from the Fraich'Up range were distributed in Switzerland, Andorra, Saint-Martin, Slovenia, Qatar, but also in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, according to an alert mechanism notification on food risks (the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed), confirmed Thursday by a spokesperson for the European Commission.

The pizzas in the Fraich'Up range are all made at the Buitoni factory in Caudry (Nord), where production was banned by the prefecture following two hygiene inspections.

"Buitoni does not sell Fraich'up pizzas directly abroad," a spokesperson for the brand told AFP.

"Pizzas Fraich'up are distributed and marketed to distributors/resellers in France, who can export and resell on their own initiative in stores located abroad", continued the Buitoni representative.

Nestlé, owner of Buitoni, had launched a massive recall of the affected products on March 18.

Since then, analyzes have confirmed "a link between several cases and the consumption of frozen pizzas from the Fraîch'Up range of the Buitoni brand contaminated with Escherichia coli bacteria", according to a press release published at the end of March by the General Directorate of Health, which depends on the French government.

Health authorities sounded the alarm after dozens of French children fell ill.

Two have died, although the connection to the pizzas has not been confirmed in either case.

The bacterium Escherichia coli Sylvie HUSSON AFP

On Friday, an investigation for "manslaughter", "deception" and "endangering others" was opened by the Paris prosecutor's office.

The NGO Foodwatch was the first to say in a press release on Tuesday that Fraîch'Up pizzas made in France had been "marketed in at least 15 African countries".

"The number of food safety inspections decreased by 33% between 2012 and 2019 on the side of the Directorate General for Food", also affirmed the association, which denounces a lack of means of the health control authorities in France.

© 2022 AFP