a frozen factory contaminated by listeria

The Belgian group Greenyard, one of the world's leading suppliers of fruit and vegetables, has announced that it has been forced to close its frozen food factory in Hungary following the discovery of its contamination with a listeria strain that killed nine people Europe since 2015. EFSA, the European Food Safety Agency, reported to the group on 29 June that the strain of listeria bacteria causing the deaths was detected in samples of frozen vegetables produced by its Hungarian factory.

The closed unit, all recalled products. The Belgian group issued a press release Friday night and called for an investigation into a possible medical causal link between the deaths and the contamination of its plant in Hungary. The production unit was shut down and all frozen products produced on the site between August 2016 and June 2018 were recalled, Greenyard said. "The recall is a precautionary measure and does not imply that the recalled products are contaminated," the group said in its statement. The Greenyard leaders are in constant contact with the European Commission and the relevant authorities, "the statement added.

Present in 27 countries. The listing was suspended on Friday at the Brussels Stock Exchange after falling 10%. A family business founded by Hein Deprez in 1987, Greenyard has become a giant in the processing and distribution of fruit and vegetables with the takeover of the companies Univeg (fresh fruits and vegetables, flowers and plants), Pinguin (frozen), Noliko (canned fruits and vegetables) and Peltracom (substrates for horticulture) in 2015. The group is present in 27 countries and employs 10.000 people.

Nine people have died and 38 others have fallen ill since 2015 after having eaten infected with bacteria in five EU countries: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. EFSA published information on the results of the survey on 3 July but did not identify the company involved.