The Day An Entire French Village Went Mad

Pont-Saint-Esprit, a picturesque French village along the Rhône River, is mostly famous for its medieval bridge after which it is named. However, in 1951, an incident occurred that made the town known worldwide. Approximately 200 people fell ill and seven died, while 50 were committed to asylums.

It all started on August 16th, when people began to experience strange symptoms. By mid-morning, residents headed to the two doctor’s offices with complaints of nausea, vomiting, cold chills, hot flashes, hallucinations, and convulsions. Some even reported that they were swatting away imaginary bees, while others claimed that snakes were slithering all over their bodies. By the end of the day, 75 people were suffering from hallucinations.

The hallucinations continued for days, with some people believing that their children had turned into sausages or that they could see heavenly choruses, while others experienced terrifying visions, causing them to rip their bedsheets or hide under their covers. Even animals were not spared, with ducks waddling around town like penguins and dogs biting rocks that chipped their teeth.

Physicians from other towns tried to help, but were astounded by the situation. Two local doctors investigated the disease outbreak and by August 19th, they identified bread purchased from Roch Briand’s bakery as the culprit. An investigation was opened, and the police focused on bread that had been bought on August 16th.

Pont-Saint-Esprit residents gave varying descriptions of the bread they bought from Briand’s bakery. Some stated that the bread tasted fine, while others complained that it smelled like gasoline or bleach and looked a little gray. Investigation led to Maurice Maillet’s mill in Saint-Martin-la-Rivière, which was one of the two flour suppliers in the region and had experienced numerous complaints in the past about the quality of its flour. During Maillet’s interrogation, he denied mixing rye into his flour, which is susceptible to ergot poisoning that causes people to experience hallucinations after consuming contaminated bread.

It was, however, discovered that Maillet had entered into an agreement with Guy Bruère, a baker who had brought bags filled with leftover grain from the end of the season, and may have contained a lot of rye. Maillet milled this flour and exchanged it for a lesser quantity of high-quality flour, mixing the contaminated grain with superior grain in the process. This resulted in the improved flour’s contamination, and the making of the hallucinogenic bread.

On August 31st, the police arrested Maillet and Bruère for involuntary manslaughter. The two men’s charges were later dropped, but some of their employees and business associates were prosecuted on lesser charges.

Although ergot poisoning had been responsible for the bizarre behavior and ensuing witch hunts during the Salem Witch Trials, in 1951 France, an inquiry was launched into the contamination of food products and ways to ensure their safer transportation, instead of investigating anyone for witchcraft.