Prosecutor orders investigation into fire at catering factory linked to mass food poisoning in schools

A Supreme Court prosecutor has ordered officials in Lamia to investigate the causes of a fire that completely destroyed the factory of a catering company that has been linked to an outbreak of food poisoning among primary schoolchildren.

The Giannitsis factory, which was located in an industrial part of the Central Greece city, was completely gutted in a fire on Sunday evening.

“Please investigate the causes of the fire … in connection with the fact of the involvement of the specific factory with the school lunches that caused mass food poisoning among elementary school students,” Georgia Adelini instructed local prosecutors.

Last Thursday, dozens of pupils from four primary schools in and around Lamia began to experience vomiting and diarrhea after eating a school lunch and some were referred by pediatricians to hospital.

All the schools were supplied with meals by the Giannitsis company.

On Friday, the company admitted that it was aware of a number of primary schoolchildren had become infected with gastroenteritis after allegedly eating one of its school meals and said that it had submitted samples of the meal, of which 2033 portions had been prepared, for laboratory analysis.

Parents of the children had requested prosecutors to investigate the food poisoning outbreak.

Eighteen tenders and 40 firefighters attended the blaze, which destroyed the factory and company vehicles.

Speaking to national broadcaster ERT on Monday, the Hellenic Food Authority president, Antonis Zambelas, said officials had not managed to inspect the plant before the fire. 

A team arrived at the factory on Saturday morning and, finding that food was not being prepared, they decided to schedule an inspection for early this week. He added that inspectors will still try to find evidence and said that inspections will also be carried out on companies that supplied minced meat to Giannitsis.