Vomiting, severe diarrhea, serious infections, prolonged hospitalizations… For several weeks, parents have been warning about worrying symptoms appearing in their infants after consuming infant milk recalled for contamination with cereulide toxin. However, apart from two criminal investigations opened after the deaths of two babies, very few official analyzes have been carried out. Faced with what they consider to be a denial of health justice, 24 families have decided to take the matter to the Paris judicial court.
Parents sent to manufacturers to have milk analyzed
Members of the Intox’Alim collective, these families criticize a procedure that they consider incomprehensible: after reporting their children’s symptoms to the health authorities, they are regularly invited to transmit the suspect boxes of milk… directly to the manufacturers concerned.
This is the case of Apolline, mother of Auguste, five and a half months old, fed with Guigoz milk, several batches of which have been recalled. Despite her repeated requests for independent analyzes from the Regional Health Agency and via the Signal Conso platform, she was contacted by the Departmental Directorate for Population Protection (DDPP), which explained to her that the tests will be carried out by Nestlé, “at the request” of the authorities. An approach that the young mother refuses, fearing a lack of objectivity.
A procedure denounced by the families and their lawyer
Other parents report similar situations: children hospitalized, requests for analyzes left unanswered, then receiving emails from Nestlé offering to recover the products to “complete the investigations”.
For Maître Nathalie Goutaland, lawyer for the 24 families, this practice poses “serious problems”. According to her, neither French law nor European law provides that manufacturers themselves analyze products likely to have caused poisoning. “Manufacturers must remove dangerous products from the market, but certainly not lead the health investigation“, she underlines. In the complaint filed this Tuesday, February 10, the families accuse the State and the industrialists of deliberate endangerment, but also of obstructing the manifestation of the truth.
Insufficient public resources in the face of a health crisis
When questioned, the Ministry of Agriculture recognizes that public capacities are limited. To date, ANSES is the only public laboratory capable of detecting and quantifying cereulide toxin, with limited resources. Despite long-standing scientific warnings about the need to create a national reference laboratory, this structure has never seen the light of day.
The authorities assure that the analyzes are “prioritized according to the issues” and that official expertise can be carried out subsequently. A promise that worries families: provided, they emphasize, that the boxes of milk have not already been returned to manufacturers.
Medication Guide
- LEVOTHYROX 200 micrograms, scored tablet, box of 30 (medication)