Short update to media reports on historic, frivolous claims by Lactalis against one Eurofins laboratory in France

Following a longstanding criminal investigation by the French government of salmonella contamination in infant milk in 2017 at a Lactalis plant in Craon and for which Lactalis was indicted on 16 February 2023, Lactalis has tried to deflect the blame and filed a claim on 10 April 2018 against two small subsidiaries of Eurofins, Eurofins Laboratoire Microbiologie Ouest (ELMO) and Eurofins NDSC Food France, which together generate about €20m in annual revenues. These procedures have been ongoing for years and presumably will go on for some time. ELMO’s position has not changed that this procedure is frivolous and that, in addition to the fact that Lactalis is solely to blame for the milk contamination at its factory and not ELMO, the amounts claimed are unjustified. ELMO only analysed the samples Lactalis chose to send to its Nantes laboratory and maintains that it would have detected salmonella if these had been positive, as it did several times prior to the crisis and up to 2017 on environmental samples from the same Lactalis’ factory in Craon.

With this frivolous claim, Lactalis presumably wishes to deflect attention from the many shortcomings in the quality management of its Craon plant which are asserted by the French government in its criminal case against Lactalis.

The recent publication by a French newspaper on this topic brings no new information on these long ongoing procedures. In the meantime, ELMO continues to be involved in the ongoing investigations aimed at determining the causes of the salmonella contamination at the Lactalis plant by providing its technical and scientific expertise.

Further information can be found on ELMO website (elmo-fr.com/communique-de-presse-eurofins-laboratoire-de-microbiologie-de-louest-du-21-11-23/).

Due to the ongoing nature of the court cases, Eurofins will not be providing further comments. 

Notes to Editors:

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Eurofins is Testing for Life. The Eurofins network of companies believes that it is the global leader in food, environment, pharmaceutical and cosmetic product testing and in discovery pharmacology, forensics, advanced material sciences and agroscience contract research services. It is also one of the market leaders in certain testing and laboratory services for genomics, and in the support of clinical studies, as well as in biopharma contract development and manufacturing. It also has a rapidly developing presence in highly specialised and molecular clinical diagnostic testing and in-vitro diagnostic products.

With over 61,000 staff across a decentralised and entrepreneurial network of ca. 900 laboratories in 61 countries, Eurofins offers a portfolio of over 200,000 analytical methods to evaluate the safety, identity, composition, authenticity, origin, traceability and purity of a wide range of products, as well as providing innovative clinical diagnostic testing services and in-vitro diagnostic products.

Eurofins companies’ broad range of services are important for the health and safety of people and our planet. The ongoing investment to become fully digital and maintain the best network of state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment supports our objective to provide our customers with high-quality services, innovative solutions and accurate results in the best possible turnaround time (TAT). Eurofins companies are well positioned to support clients’ increasingly stringent quality and safety standards and the increasing demands of regulatory authorities as well as the evolving requirements of healthcare practitioners around the world.

Eurofins has grown very strongly since its inception and its strategy is to continue expanding its technology portfolio and its geographic reach. Through R&D and acquisitions, the Group draws on the latest developments in the field of biotechnology and analytical chemistry to offer its clients unique analytical solutions.

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