Yasmine MotarjemiYasmine Motarjemi (born 1955) is a food safety specialist and whistleblower. BiographyMotarjemi studied chemistry and biology at the Claude-Bernard University in Lyon and food industry techniques at the University of Montpellier, before doing PhD studies in food technology at the University of Lund. She then worked as a research assistant at the same university.[citation needed] In 1990, she joined the World Health Organisation in Geneva, where she became a scientific expert and Director of Food Security and Food Aid. From 2000, as Corporate Food Safety Manager and Assistant Vice-President, she became responsible for food safety at Nestlé's headquarters in Vevey.[citation needed] In 2003, following a complaint from parents, she wanted to withdraw from the market baby biscuits manufactured by the multinational .[1] From 2006 onwards, she called for an audit on the toxicity of baby products. In 2009, a large-scale food poisoning of melamine-contaminated milk incident ausing kidney disease affected 300,000 babies in China, 13 of whom died[2]. The director of the offending products was promoted and became her manager. He took away her responsibilities and relegated her to menial tasks.[3] In 2010, she was fired. In March 2011, she filed a complaint against Nestlé with the court of the canton of Vaud for moral and psychological harassment.[4] By a judgement of 7 January 2020, the civil court of appeal recognised the grounds for harassment and that she had been intimidated in an "insidious manner".[5][6][7] In 2023, Nestlé withdrew its appeal, and the company had to pay 2 million Swiss francs, 100,000 francs for legal costs and a symbolic 1 symbolic franc for moral damages[2]. In 2019, she received the GUE/NGL Award for Journalists, Whistleblowers and Defenders of the Right to Information.[8] Motarjemi was nominated for the Prix Courage 2020 by the Swiss magazine Beobachter, a prize that honours and promotes personalities "who fight fearlessly and with dedication for an idea - for an open, united and fair Switzerland".[9] Bibliography
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