France, seeking to limit reputational damage to its agri-business industry, threatened on Thursday to impose sanctions after the country’s big supermarkets said recalled baby foods made by Lactalis had still found their way onto shop shelves, reports Reuters.
The admissions by Carrefour, Leclerc, Auchan and Systeme U deepened a salmonella health scare that began in early December when France’s consumer protection agency ordered the halt to sales and a global recall of products from a factory in northwest France. Three dozen children have fallen ill.
The botched recall is particularly embarrassing for the government after President Emmanuel Macron pushed food exports during a state visit to China this week.
Economy minister Bruno Le Maire laid the blame squarely on Lactalis, one of the world’s largest dairy groups, and the retailers as he tried to stem the fallout from the scandal.
“There has been unacceptable behavior, which should be punished,” he told a news conference.
In a sign of how seriously France is taking the issue, Macron weighed in from Italy, also promising punishment for those responsible.
Salmonella infections can be life-threatening, particularly for young children, and the recall risks damaging Lactalis in China, a fast-growing market for baby food and dairy products where consumers are highly sensitive after melamine-tainted baby milk led to the deaths of six children in 2008.
That health scare caused distrust in locally produced infant formula and benefited foreign suppliers such as Nestle, Danone and Lactalis.
Privately-held Lactalis, which has annual sales of around 17 billion euros ($20 billion), addressed the salmonella contamination by halting operations at the factory where it started, and on Thursday announced the temporary layoff of 250 workers.
The recall affected goods carrying the Picot, Milumel and Taranis brands destined for French and overseas markets and France’s consumer protection agency DGCCRF has begun an investigation and carried out 2,500 checks so far. A further 2,500 checks will be carried out from next week.