MEPs propose "a health food policy"

To avoid health problems in the food industry, "self-control is not enough," said the chairman of the parliamentary inquiry commission on the case Lactalis Christian Hutin, presenting his report on Wednesday. It is necessary "to control the controllers, and to control the controlled ones", specified the deputy of the North, questioned on Europe 1, which also talks about the creation of a "police of the food health", in an interview with France info. 19659003] At the end of 2017, 36 infants had salmonellosis after drinking an infant milk from the brands Picot and Milumel produced in the factory Lactalis from Craon in Mayenne.

contamination and the boondoggles of the withdrawal / recall procedure that followed resulted in the opening of a judicial inquiry. She also convinced members to create a parliamentary commission of inquiry.

"Criminal liability"

The commission will thus recommend "to touch the wallet" the industrialists who "will not respect a form of deontology and rigor on self-checks", according to Christian Hutin, who also evokes "a form

It will also be necessary to check the independence of the auditors, because "when a laboratory has 90% of its turnover which is linked to a single company", as was the case in the case Lactalis "it may be a problem," he said,

Regarding the recall / recall procedure that had failed during the crisis Lactalis Hutin evokes several tracks: "crash tests" as for banks, the use of barcodes and QR codes to facilitate blockages at the cash desk, and staff training. He also asks that one employee per store "be responsible for public health."

The MP also stated that the commission would ask that the state put an end to the "police war" and create an authority unique in the field of food security, denouncing a "Mexican army" with "three departments: Health, Bercy and Agriculture is not possible". A moment ago, "it must be very clear: a unique number, a unique site, a single decision," he said.

The end of the boondoggles

The commission of inquiry The parliamentary committee responsible for drawing lessons from the case presents mainly the avenues taken to prevent the recurrence of these boondoggles.

During the four months of the investigation, the parliamentarians auditioned actors of the administration, of the great distribution, agribusiness, the agricultural world and several ministers to try to find what were the weak points to improve in these complex procedures.

For the badociation of families of victims of salmonella-contaminated milk, "these hearings have had the merit of giving a lot of information about the unfolding of the crisis: nurseries and some distributors not officially informed of withdrawal procedures / reminders, and no controls of the authorities on he possible bacteriological contamination of infantile products since 2005. "

But the families of the victims will be especially" vigilant as to the concrete application "of the recommendations of the commission, badures the badociation in a communique.

Tuesday, a report of the National Consumer Council (CNC), which brings together consumer badociations, professional organizations and competition services, called for combining several measures to improve the disposal of defective products.

A single website [19659008] One of the flagship provisions is the establishment of a single website of the State where producers and all distributors will be obliged to post all the necessary information for the consumer.

But this will require "Legislative Provisions", which could be included in the Business Growth Pact Bill, the review of which begin "from the September in the National Assembly", according to the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire.

The possibility of resorting to the banking data of the customers having bought a product being the withdrawal / reminder to alert them directly "could be an extraordinarily effective instrument", also estimated the Minister.

He however stressed "that there is a perfectly legitimate sensitivity on the protection of banking secrecy, so we will continue the instruction of this proposal, and even what limits we must put in it. "

The mbad distribution has also made commitments such as the generalization of cash control of all possibly defective products, so as to ensure that no article can out of a department store in the event of a health crisis.

Bruno Le Maire also announced the development in the coming weeks of the possibility of r whistleblowers to report, through a mobile application of the Fraud Control (DGCCRF), "all suspicious products they may have seen during their acts of consumption." [19659003] With AFP )