The owner of a Bordeaux restaurant was indicted on Wednesday, December 6, in the investigation opened in September into around fifteen cases of botulism, including one fatality, linked to canned sardines, the prosecution announced. The investigations made it possible to highlight “various breaches of health hygiene rules by the manager of the establishment, in particular with regard to the making of artisanal preserves”, wrote Frédérique Porterie, public prosecutor in Bordeaux, in a press release.
This is the manager of the Tchin Tchin Wine Bar, taken into police custody on Tuesday. He was referred on Wednesday for indictment for “homicide and involuntary injuries”, “endangering the lives of others”, “failure to assist a person in danger” and “selling corrupted or corrupted goods”. toxic”.
The prosecution specifies that it has “required his placement under judicial supervision with a ban on carrying out (…) any activity related to catering”. The penalties incurred range from two to five years in prison and a fine of 45,000 to 600,000 euros.
Sixteen clients identified
A total of sixteen customers, the majority of them foreigners, were identified as “suspected cases of botulism” after eating home-made canned sardines between September 4 and 10 at this tourist restaurant in the center of the city of Bordeaux. which then hosted two matches of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. A 32-year-old woman of Greek nationality died at her home in Vincennes on September 12 (Val-de-Marne). The fifteen other victims suffered from “various pathologies”, according to the prosecution.
Botulism is a rare and serious neurological condition, fatal in 5 to 10% of cases, caused by a very powerful toxin produced by a bacteria which develops particularly in poorly preserved foods due to lack of sufficient sterilization. It causes eye problems (double vision), difficulty swallowing and, in advanced forms, paralysis of the muscles, particularly respiratory muscles, which can lead to death.
The investigation, entrusted to the judicial police, the Central Office for the fight against attacks on the environment and public health (Oclaesp) and the departmental directorate for population protection, made it possible to determine that approximately Twenty-five people “were exposed,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The investigations continue in another aspect which concerns “the medical care of patients”, adds the prosecution.