Castel Viandes has been at the helm of the Nantes court since Thursday morning. The Châteaubriant (Loire-Atlantique) company, with some 300 employees, is suspected of having repackaged spoiled meat. The facts on which justice is looking date back more than 10 years, from 2010 to 2013. It is a question of deception on merchandise and the placing on the market of products dangerous to health.
It is Pierre Hinard, a former manager, made redundant in 2008, who initiated the investigation. A man who repeated this Thursday afternoon at the bar his life for 13 years made of “continuous denigration and slander for 13 years”. His lawyer, Me Eva Joly, asked as such 80,000 euros in damages. His civil action was challenged by the defense at the opening of the hearing. The court will decide on this point later.
Reference to the Buitoni case
Chance of the calendar, this “old” file comes after the case of contaminated frozen pizzas from Buitoni. And at the hearing, it was discussed, especially whencame to drop off a veterinary expert commissioned by Castel Viandes. A man who had two months to work on paper and peel the approximately 1,500 documents in the file.
A man not impartial to hear Me Eva Joly for the civil party. “This man is the usual adviser in the food industry” she says. And the former politician assures that he would have said in an interview that the recent cases linked to the bacterium E-Coli “were not worrying”. False, retorts the expert.
A little earlier, he took up each of the criticisms made of Castel Viandes. Sometimes hesitantly, repeatedly pronouncing “I imagine”. He also advances very technical explanations, difficult for the uninitiated. He clears Castel Meat, which according to him could not warn its customers of the contamination of its products with salmonella or E-coli bacteria. Test results arriving at the time after delivery to customers.
A pugnacious defense
He also affirms that when the meat being intended for prepared meals, “it does not matter if there is salmonella, because the meat is pasteurized, sanitized.” “Except that Castel Viande does not only deliver Fleury Michon and Marie”, assures Pierre Hignard, the former employee, whistleblower. He quotes Auchan, Mc Do, System U “who do not rework the meat, do not transform it” and which represent large volumes for Castel Viandes according to him. For him, this expert is a “illusionist.”
In the afternoon, the three defendants were questioned. While they are accused of not having recalled batches of minced meat unfit for consumption, they assured, with supporting documents, that they withdrew the batches in question from sale.
Continuation of the trial this Friday
Me Louis-Georges Barret, lawyer for one of the two executives, believes that the hearing made it possible to reveal the “considerable confusion made during the investigation”. Before the hearing, Me Benoit Chabertanother defense lawyer, spoke of a “Investigation, not serious. We had to find, so they found things. But in fact, there is no offense.”
The three defense lawyers will plead for release. It will be after the indictment of the prosecutor, scheduled for this Friday early in the morning.
– Celine Loizeau