A gourmet Christmas dinner for 2,600 workers at the French aerospace group Airbus Atlantic left hundreds of staff sick.
The health authorities have launched an investigation to establish what caused a mass outbreak of gastroenteritis among a reported 700 employees.
The festive feast was organised and provided by the company’s own restaurant at its site at Montoir-de-Bretagne in the Loire-Atlantique region of western France.
Delicacies on the menu included foie gras, scallops, lobster and tournedos, followed by desserts of ice-cream logs and hazelnut and chocolate mousse at just €15 (£13) a head.
The affected workers showed “clinical signs of vomiting and/or diarrhoea” after the seasonal dinner on 14 December. Most fell ill within 24 to 48 hours after the meal.
Health officials said they had not yet identified the cause of the mass poisoning and are looking into whether it was caused by a bacteria in the food or an extremely contagious gastroenteritis virus.
“Investigations are continuing,” a spokesperson said, adding that the results should be available next week. A questionnaire has been sent to all those present at the meal.
One employee named only as Nolwenn told the Ouest-France newspaper: “I had colic and headaches like I’d never had before. It was worse than giving birth.”
Jean-Claude Iribarren, the secretary of the Airbus Atlantic works committee, told the paper the food had been prepared by the company’s canteen. “As we do every year, we organised a Christmas dinner for 2,600 people with a lot of local suppliers,” he said.
“People have been a little hasty about the causes. We are obliged to keep samples of every product served in the restaurant. They will be analysed by the ARS [health authorities]. The investigation will take several more days.”
A spokesperson for Airbus said nobody had been “seriously ill”. “The case is now being handled by the health authority, which is leading the investigation.”
Airbus Atlantic, a subsidiary of the world’s largest aircraft maker, Airbus, employs 15,000 people in five countries.
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