French and Riviera News Friday 7th February 2020

Local

Food products recalled - Several food products have been recalled after the DGCCRF and the consumer association in France declared them contaminated or unfit for consumption. Items include certain brands of Cordons bleu and cheese sold in Carrefour, a brand of smoked sausage from  Geant Casino, Solevita apple juice from Lidl and Netto and jars of ground ginger sold at Auchan. For details of the brand and batch number see below. 

Two bodies found in undergrowth - Two bodies have been discovered in undergrowth in the town of Revest-du-Bion near Gordes in the Luberon. Police believe the bodies to be that of 25 year old Gabriel Ferchal and 26 year old Julien Boumlil from the Aude region who went missing in December. Two brothers have been arrested in connection with the deaths as police continue the investigation.

Strike action - Lawyers have continued strike action against the pension reform after interrupting an auction taking place in the courthouse of Grasse on Thursday morning. 120 lawyers from  Grasse entered the courtroom which was in the middle of hosting the weekly auction in an attempt to force the sale to be suspended.

According to reports lawyers are against the government plan to integrate the profession into the general system doubling contributions from 14 to 28% and therefore crippling many firms.

Meanwhile in Nice 50 firefighters lay down on the closed tramway tracks on Thursday as part of protests. Estimates of the number of protestors varied on Thursday with unions claiming 8,000 people took part while police put the number at 1,600.  Other demonstrations were held throughout France, including in Bordeaux, Montpellier, Toulon and Béziers.

Several local associations have filed an application to suspend the approval of the extension of Terminal 2 at Nice Cote d’Azur airport. The associations object to alleged environmental and health issues relating to the extension. The application, filed at the Administrative Court of Nice, seeks to annul the decree made by the Prefect last month granting a building permit for the works.

Air France KLM has announced an extension of the suspension of its flights to and from mainland China. The company says that, because of the coronavirus outbreak, it will now suspend all flights until the 15th of March. It says that, depending on how the situation evolves, it plans to gradually reintroduce flights to and from Shanghai and Beijing from the 16th of March.

National

Protests in Cherbourg - Dozens of human rights activists have protested at a port in the English Channel against the arrival of a Saudi cargo ship. The ship was due to dock at Cherbourg port on France's northern coast late on Thursday afternoon.

About 100 people from human rights organisations such as Amnesty International, turned out in protest against its presence.  The day before, a group of 17 NGOs wrote a letter to French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe expressing their concern about the ship's arrival.

Amazon - A draft bill to be introduced in France relaxing the rules for the online sale of medicines has created concern among pharmacists. Under the bill, medicines, which do not require a prescription, could be ordered and delivered online.

Pharmacists in France are also concerned by the recommendation from the country’s competition authority that the sale of some medicines be authorized in supermarkets.

French winemakers - French winemakers have managed to force officials to back down over controversial plans to ban a number of prestigious wines from calling themselves “burgundy”.

A vote was to be held on Thursday which would have stopped vineyards from 64 communes, including those making chablis, from using the word “burgundy” on their labels however, after meeting a delegation of angry producers, the vote was postponed.

Business

Fiat Chrysler says the impact of the coronavirus epidemic could halt production at one of its European car plants within four weeks.

Car firms are on alert over possible disruption to Chinese factories and suppliers, but Fiat's warning is the first to highlight an impact in Europe.

Fiat said supply chain issues could stop factory production in two-to-four weeks but he did not name the facility.

The virus emerged in Wuhan, home to many major car firms and suppliers.

Nissan, General Motors, Honda, Renault and Peugeot-owner PSA are among the companies with major facilities in Hubei province and Wuhan city, which has been in lockdown since January.

 

The man in charge of clearing Boeing's 737 Max to fly again has said he will not do so until he has flown the plane himself.

Steve Dickson, head of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), would not set a timeframe for allowing the plane back in the air.

The aircraft has been grounded by regulators around the world since March 2019.

It was banned from flying after two separate crashes killed 346 people.

Mr Dickson said on Thursday that he would fly the plane with his wife and children on board.

Last month,Boeing said that it did not expect its 737 Max plane to return to the air before July at least.

And-Warner Music Group, home to a host of stars including Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars, plans to sell shares in the US.

Billionaire Sir Len Blavatnik bought the company for 3.3 billion dollars in 2011, when the industry was in the depths of a multi-year slump.

He looks set for a major windfall as music sales have jumped in recent years.

The growth in demand has been helped by the rapid rise of paid streaming services such as Spotify and Apple.

This has boosted the value of music companies, attracting more investors back to the record industry.

Last year rival Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, was valued at more than 33 billion after media group Vivendi sold a minority share of it to a group led by China's Tencent.

Sport

Rugby Union-It’s the second weekend of the 6 Nations Championship with France ,Ireland and Wales looking to build on their wins in the first series of games.

Ireland host Wales in Dublin tomorrow with kick off at 3.15 while Scotland host England in the Calcutta Cup game at Murrayfield with kick off at 5.45.

France play Italy in Paris on Sunday.Kick off is at 4pm.

Cricket-South Africa host England in the second one day international in Durban today with the tourists looking to bounce back from a 7 wicket defeat in the opening match in Durban.

Play starts at noon French time.

Football-There are few games in the English Premier League this weekend because of the winter break.

Tomorrow Everton play Crystal Palace and Brighton host Watford.

On Sunday Sheffield United play Bournemouth and Manchester City host West Ham

Formula 1-Lewis Hamilton has said his relationship with his father Anthony “hasn’t been easy”.

Anthony Hamilton managed his son when he entered Formula 1 in 2007 but they split in 2010 and didn’t speak for a time.

Lewis said on social media that their journey “hadn’t been an easy one” adding that over the last couple of years they’d become closer.

Weather.

Clear skies  with light variable winds.

Top temperature 15 degrees.

Overnight lows of 7 degrees on the coast and 4 degrees inland with clear skies.

The weekend-Mainly fine with  highs of 15-16 degrees.

 

Food brands and batches - 

PURE APPLE JUICE LIDL AND NETTO -Product recalled by: Refresco / Product name: pure apple juice

Brand: Solevita Lot numbers and dates of minimum durability (DDM): 119030 - DDM: 12/09/2020; 119032 - DDM: 13/09/2020; DDM: 09/13/2020 119,538 - DDM: 10/10/2020 Barcode: 4,056,489 182,931

Marketing: from 20/12/2019 to 05/02/2020

ANDY LOUSSOUARN SMOKED AMYLACEOUS SMOKED SAUSAGE A batch of André Loussouarn starchy smoked cooked sausages could contain pieces of metal.

Product recalled by: André Loussouarn Product name: sausage

Brand: André Loussouarn Lot number: 033

Packaging: tray of 10 slices in self-service or in pieces of 300 g and 1 kg in the cutting department Health stamp: FR 29 125 020 CE

Deadlines for consumption: 15/02/2020 to 18/02/2020  Reason for recall: possible small pieces of metal

Consumer contact: 02 98 82 52 12 or email: qualite@andre-loussouarn.fr Source: Géant Casino

GROUND GINGER THE CONQUEST OF FLAVORS

A batch of ground Ginger The Conquest of flavors is contaminated with the bacillus Bacillus Cereus.

Product recalled by: CMD Product Name: Ground Ginger

Brand: The Conquest of Flavors Lot number: C191771 Barcode: 3390126000303

Packaging: 70g jar Date of minimum durability (DDM): 02/28/2021

Reason for recall: presence of Bacillus Cereus bacilli Risk: food poisoning

CMD consumer contact: 03 20 74 00 05 Source: Auchan

Recommendations: do not consume and return to the place of purchase for reimbursement.

 

DISCOVERY TRAY 3 CHEESES LA FROMAGERIE DES CÉVENNES Five batches of "discovery 3 cheese trays" from Fromagerie des Cévennes could be contaminated with listerias.

Product recalled by: Fromagerie des Cévennes Product name: 3 cheese discovery tray

Brand: Fromagerie des Cévennes Lots: 36019; 36119; 36 319; 36 519; 00220

Health stamp: FR 48097011 Use by dates (DLC): 02/10/2020; 02/11/2020; 02/13/2020; 02/15/2020

Reason for recall: presence of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria Risk: food poisoning - listeriosis

Consumer contact: 04 66 45 72 35 Source: Carrefour

Recommendations: do not consume, throw away or return to the place of purchase for reimbursement.

 

"MAXI FORMAT 800G" CHICKEN CORDON BLEU

A batch of chicken cordon bleu (maximum size 800 g) from the Père Dodu brand could bear traces of a cleaning product.

Product recalled by: Galliance company Product name: Chicken cordon bleu max format 800g

Brand: Père Plump Lot number: CD1CD10

Barcode: 3,596,690 128,249  description: maxi format - 800g

Health stamp: FR 56 261 001 C  Use by date (DLC): 02/04/2020

Reason for recall: risk of traces of cleaning product on the surfaceConsumer contact: 02 40 09 49 79

Source: Carrefour

Recommendations: do not consume and return to the place of purchase for reimbursement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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