This is an interesting read involving an E.coli outbreak in France related to frozen pizza. The outbreak
occurred earlier this year where more than 70 people came down with infections from pathogenic E.coli. In the article below, employees provided testimonials to how the facility was run. One could see that food safety was not the primary driver for operating decisions.
While the cause of the outbreak was not found, the investigation revealed deficiencies in the management of the plant. This included the "presence of mold, rust and peeling paints was then discovered in the factory, as well as food moths on the production line of Fraîch'Up pizzas."
What employees stated:
"In 2012, Nestlé introduced a new way of managing the site. This is called the Lean method, explains Maryse Tréton of the CGT federation of agri-food. The goal is to minimize all times that are not dedicated to production. We reduce cleaning times and preventive maintenance times to make production as possible."
"Three years later, in 2015, this reduction in cleaning time will be included in a so-called "competitiveness" plan. "Until 2015, the plant operated with 16 hours of production and 8 hours of cleaning per day," say Patrick and Pierre. After 2015, we almost double the production time to 27 hours a day (in three 9-hour shifts) and we almost halve the cleaning time from 8 hours to 4 hours 45.""
"According to them, the consequences of this reorganization are not long in coming: "For us, it meant going faster on cleaning. So, the priority was to clean the production line and the machines. But not what was around, such as the walls and ceilings. It was no longer possible to do everything." Asked about this, the management of Nestlé France confirms that the cleaning time is now less than 5 hours. But it specifies that it has "systematic microbiological samples carried out in different strategic areas of the site"."
"This reduction in cleaning time would have had other consequences. According to the employees whom Radio France's Investigation Unit met, some areas of the factory that were cleaned at least once a year before 2015 would no longer be cleaned. "Before," explains one of them, "we closed the factory for three weeks in August. Meanwhile, the cleaning company that had a contract with the factory could do bottom cleaning. Since then, Nestlé only wants to stop the factory for one week in the summer. So the general condition has deteriorated.""
Some of the outcomes:
- The air conditioning (filtering) system was not cleaned at necessary frequency.
- Flour silos not cleaned for seven years.
- Presence of rodents
- Change of flour to untreated flour where facility had been using pasteurized flour.
What is difficult to tell is to what degree the plant culture, being in France, resisted to more of a US based way of manufacturing. That is, you can run a lean system provided the necessary procedures are still completed. Clearly, important activities were not completed and employees had not bought into the lean manufacturing approach.
ICI - France
https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/faits-divers-justice/affaire-buitoni-de-nouveaux-temoignages-accablent-la-direction-1662724306
Buitoni case: new testimonies overwhelm management
Saturday September 10th, 2022 at 6:07 AM - Par Laetitia Cherel, France Bleu, France Bleu Nord
The testimonies of several employees of the Buitoni factory in Caudry shed light on the health deficiencies observed in their factory. They denounce a reduction in cleaning time imposed in 2015 and a change of flour in 2021. Investigation by Laetitia Cherel, investigation unit of Radio France.