Fatal E.coli poisoning in Aisne: six butchers indicted

Six butchers have been indicted as part of the investigation into the wave of food poisoning from the E.coli bacteria which affected around thirty people and led to the death of an 11-year-old girl in 2025 in Aisne, the Paris prosecutor's office said on Saturday September 26. Ten butchers had initially been placed in police custody, said the prosecution, confirming information from L'Aisne nouvelle, which revealed the indictments.

At the end of police custody, six butchers were indicted, as managers or employees, for involuntary homicide, involuntary injuries resulting in total incapacity for work (ITT) of less than 3 months, endangering the lives of others, deception leading to a danger to the health of humans or animals, receiving stolen goods and illegal slaughter of an animal outside a slaughterhouse.

They were placed under judicial supervision, with a ban on working as a butcher or butcher's employee, except as an employee in a small, medium or large distribution company, on condition that they do not handle naked meat. Among the other obligations: the ban on coming into contact with other butchers placed in police custody or under investigation.

Investigating judges from the public health department of the Paris public prosecutor's office have been responsible since August 7, 2025 for conducting the investigations.

In June 2025, a wave of food poisoning caused by the Escherichia coli bacteria (E.coli) affected the Saint-Quentin region, with 32 cases recorded in total, according to the report communicated by the Paris prosecutor's office.

An 11-year-old girl, Élise, died on June 16, 2025 at the Amiens University Hospital, and several other children aged 11 months to 12 years were taken care of by the hospitals of Saint-Quentin, Amiens, Lille and Reims.

This wave of food poisoning led to the preventive closure of six butcher shops, including several halal, with the authorities suspecting a food infection linked to meat.