Consequences of the Lactalis Case in France on liability for defective products

The years 2017 and 2018 were marked by the infected LACTALIS milk scandal in France. Lactalis is a French food company. It is the world's largest cheese processing group and the number-two food group in France, after Danone.

It was identified that 53 infants in France suffered from salmonellosis in late 2017 after eating a product for children – mainly products branded Milumel or Picot – which came from the Craon factory in Mayenne.

The recall process was chaotic and various failings were discovered that had caused the contamination. After several weeks of crisis, in mid-January, the group – known for its culture of secrecy – had withdrawn all of its infant formula in the offending factory, and production had to be suspended for six months.

Overall, a little more than 300 criminal complaints were lodged with the public health department of the Public Prosecutor of Paris, including those filed by four consumer associations (such as the consumer protection associations UFC-Que Choisir and Foodwatch).

The products’ removal from sale and recall was ordered by Minister Bruno Le Maire on 09 December 2017.

It is suspected that the company had taken no steps whatsoever to remedy the discovery of salmonella when carrying out its own product checks. If the facts are proven, the company managers could be prosecuted for fraud/forgery. There may also have been shortcomings in their production control system.

Such actions are punishable under criminal proceedings with seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of 750,000 euros if the offence or attempted offence resulted in the goods becoming hazardous to human or animal health.

In this case, large retailers (including Edouard Leclerc) had to acknowledge that they did not comply with the decree ordering the products to be withdrawn, but rather that they distributed the disputed batches to their shopping centres throughout France and sold the infected milk.

After more than nine months of extensive preliminary inquiry, a judicial investigation was opened on 9 October 2018 against X for "deception about the essential quality of the goods", "unintentional injuries resulting in incapacity for work lasting three months or fewer” and “failure by a food industry operator to carry out the procedures for withdrawing or recalling a product that is harmful to health".

At the end of 2018, a parliamentary inquiry committee, suggested streamlining of state departments, with centralised governance in the food safety sector. A single authority should be put in place, instead of the three ministries (Ministry of Health, Economy (Bercy) and Ministry of Agriculture).

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