Another year, another continent, more horribly sick kids and the same E. coli

I was reading (using Google Translate) Florence Méréo’s article – Bactérie E.coli : avant les pizzas Buitoni, Nestlé avait déjà été empêtré dans un scandale sanitaire – and could not help cringing about the injuries of the victims and the similarities for another Nestlé  problem over a decade ago.

As Food Safety News wrote a week ago (I assume that number has grown):

French health officials have confirmed 50 cases of E. coli linked to a type of Nestlé frozen pizza.

Of these infections, 48 were caused by E. coli O26 and two by E. coli O103, according to Santé publique France, the French public health agency.

Another 25 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) infections are still being investigated. HUS is a type of kidney failure associated with E. coli infections that can result in lifelong, serious health problems and death.

Buitoni brand Fraîch’Up pizzas sold since June 2021 were withdrawn and recalled in mid-March after Nestlé was warned about the potential presence of E. coli O26 in dough used to make them.

Of the 50 patients, 48 are children and two are adults. They fell ill between Jan. 18 and March 14. The two adults are older than 90, with one having developed HUS.

Sick children are between 1 and 17 years old with a median age of 7. Twenty are females and 28 are males. Two youngsters died but it is not known if they ate the pizzas and their deaths are under investigation.

Eleven patients live in Hauts-de-France, eight in Nouvelle Aquitaine, seven in Pays de la Loire, six in Bretagne and Ile-de-France, three in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, two each in Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Grand Est, Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and one in Centre Val-de-Loire.

In 2009, the CDC reported:

As of Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 72 persons infected with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 with a particular DNA fingerprint have been reported from 30 states. Of these, 51 have been confirmed by an advanced DNA test as having the outbreak strain; these confirmatory test results are pending on the others. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arizona (2), California (3), Colorado (6), Connecticut (1), Delaware (1), Georgia (1), Iowa (2), Illinois (5), Kentucky (2), Massachusetts (4), Maryland (2), Maine (3), Minnesota (6), Missouri (1), Montana (1), North Carolina (2), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (1), Nevada (2), New York (1), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (1), Texas (3), Utah (4), Virginia (2), Washington (6), and Wisconsin (1).

Ill persons range in age from 2 to 65 years; however, 65% are less than 19 years old; 71% are female. Thirty-four persons have been hospitalized, 10 developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS); none have died.

On June 29, 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that a culture of a sample of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough currently under recall yielded E. coli O157:H7. The contaminated sample was collected at the firm on June 25, 2009.

Here we go again.

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.