On May 4, after lunch in the canteen, 90 students and teachers from the elementary school in Sauvagnon, near Pau, suffered from digestive symptoms. The firefighters, the Samu and the Smur were mobilized to take care of them, while they were sick at the same time. “The symptoms, which were all the more alarming as they affected a very large number of guests, faded quickly and without sequelae or real gravity”, comments the prefecture of Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
The departmental directorate for the protection of populations (DDPP) of Pyrénées-Atlantiques and the Regional Health Agency (ARS) conducted investigations. “The epidemiological investigation of the study of numerous cases/controls demonstrates with a very high probability that the food responsible is a fromage blanc made from raw milk, even though not all the patients consumed it”, concludes the prefecture.
Withdrawal of products
It specifies that “no element relating to the operation or the premises of the canteen, nor any bacteriological, toxin, chemical analysis on the food or even on the water could explain or determine with certainty a food incriminated and responsible for this collective intoxication. The producer of this product has been alerted to withdraw its other products from the market and control any new source of contamination.
The ministries in charge of health and agriculture recall that cheeses made from raw milk present “a significant increased risk of bacterial infections in children, especially for children under five”, recommendations which also apply to pregnant women and immunocompromised people.
The canteens can obtain raw milk from stockbreeders holding the ad hoc authorisation. “The operator of the collective restaurant is then responsible for the heat treatment applied to the milk that he offers for consumption, either as such or by integrating it into culinary preparations. When boiled, raw milk is much less likely to contain pathogenic microorganisms.