Nestlé will make a proposal for compensation to each victim after a medical evaluation, according to the agreement signed on March 31 and revealed on Monday.
More than a year after the opening of an investigation into cases of poisoning the E.coli bacteria in the Buitoni pizza scandal, an agreement “amicable compensation” was signed on March 31, and announced on Monday April 17 by the civil parties. Two children died and dozens of others fell seriously ill after the ingestion in 2022 of pizzas from the Fraîch’Up range of the brand, a subsidiary of Nestlé.
>> Buitoni case: “We let them poison and kill people, no one reacts”, denounces the father of one of the two victims
Seven months later, the legal battle, in terms of financial reparations, will therefore finally be settled far from the courts, by mutual agreement, in a much shorter period which seems to satisfy everyone. In a press release, Nestlé writes that it is “in order to contribute to the appeasement of the victims and their families”.
Pierre Debuisson, the lawyer for the 63 victims, also seems satisfied. “We have worked out with the Nestlé company a totally innovative and unprecedented global compensation process, which aims to repair the damage suffered by my customers who were victims of Buitoni pizza poisoning”.
The amount of the check was not disclosed.
If the agreement was made public on Monday, its precise content is secret, with radio silence on both sides. What is certain is that the request for 250 million euros made in court by the lawyer for these 63 victims is now ancient history. This lawyer had initially summoned the agri-food firm to court last September, claiming for its clients the total sum of 250 million euros for “gross negligence”. The hearing scheduled for early May at the Nanterre court is, in fact, canceled.
So, how much for the victims? “Each of the persons concerned will receive from Nestlé France a compensation proposal, which will follow a medical assessment and which will take into account, in an equitable manner, the seriousness of the damage and each situation.n”, underlined the subsidiary of the Swiss giant, world number one in the food industry. The victims are mainly children under 10 years old, some have developed lesions in the heart, brain, and kidneys. According to information from franceinfo, a global envelope is planned, but the distribution will be done later.
This agreement does not however put an end to the judicial investigation, which is continuing. A Parisian investigating judge from the public health center was seized for manslaughter, involuntary injury and endangering the lives of others. The investigations will undoubtedly be very long, as is often the case for public health cases. In the Lactalis case, for example, the dairy group was indicted after five years of investigation.