- Joined
- Aug 29, 2008
- Messages
- 26,777
- Points
- 113
E coli outbreak linked to bean sprouts, says German minister
Many of restaurants involved had deliveries from factory in Uelzen, a town in Lower Saxony in north Germany
Maev Kennedy and Abby d'Arcy Hughes in Berlin
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 5 June 2011 21.26 BST
Health authorities in Germany say locally grown bean sprouts have been identified as the likely cause of an outbreak of E coli. Photograph: Gero Breloer/AP
German bean sprouts were yesterday identified as the likely source of the E coli outbreak that has killed 22 people, caused chaos among Europe's vegetable growers and sparked a diplomatic row between Russia and the EU.
The state of Lower Saxony issued an urgent warning to stop eating bean sprouts on Sunday as it believes them to be the link between all the restaurants and food outlets in the outbreak. "We've a very strong lead linking a bean sprout company to the cases of E coli infection," said Gerd Lindemann, the state's agricultural minister.
Many of the restaurants in the outbreak had the sprouts delivered from Uelzen, a town in Lower Saxony in north Germany. A factory there produces 18 sorts of sprouts, from alfalfa and aduki bean sprouts, to sprouts from radish and sunflower seeds. Their cultivation in large steam drums at 38C creates ideal conditions for various types of bacteria to grow.
However, Lindemann also said, consumers should also continue to avoid raw cucumbers, tomatoes and salad leaves, as advised by Germany's main health body, the Robert Koch Institute.
Germany's national disease control centre raised the outbreak's death toll to 22, 21 in Germany and one in Sweden. Another 2,153 people in Germany have been affected, including 627 who have a serious complication that may cause kidney failure.
When patients began to be admitted to hospital more than a week ago, reporting crippling diarrhoea, the German authorities first blamed organic cucumbers from Spain. The number of cases continued to increase, but the effect on the massive Spanish fresh vegetable industry was immediate and devastating: growers couldn't give away produce, not just cucumbers but peppers, tomatoes, chilis, lettuce, avocados, and even citrus fruits, which had never been implicated.
Crates of vegetables were dumped at German consulates, but thousands of tonnes are rotting in the fields, in warehouses or have been dumpred in landfill. Spain's prime minister announced he would seek massive compensation from Germany. All over Europe growers found salads unsaleable.
Russia first announced a ban on German produce, then a blanket ban on all EU vegetable imports, which the EU said was "disproportionate".
Suspicion next fell on potatoes, after news that several victims ate in a restaurant for potato dishes.
Many of restaurants involved had deliveries from factory in Uelzen, a town in Lower Saxony in north Germany
Maev Kennedy and Abby d'Arcy Hughes in Berlin
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 5 June 2011 21.26 BST
Health authorities in Germany say locally grown bean sprouts have been identified as the likely cause of an outbreak of E coli. Photograph: Gero Breloer/AP
German bean sprouts were yesterday identified as the likely source of the E coli outbreak that has killed 22 people, caused chaos among Europe's vegetable growers and sparked a diplomatic row between Russia and the EU.
The state of Lower Saxony issued an urgent warning to stop eating bean sprouts on Sunday as it believes them to be the link between all the restaurants and food outlets in the outbreak. "We've a very strong lead linking a bean sprout company to the cases of E coli infection," said Gerd Lindemann, the state's agricultural minister.
Many of the restaurants in the outbreak had the sprouts delivered from Uelzen, a town in Lower Saxony in north Germany. A factory there produces 18 sorts of sprouts, from alfalfa and aduki bean sprouts, to sprouts from radish and sunflower seeds. Their cultivation in large steam drums at 38C creates ideal conditions for various types of bacteria to grow.
However, Lindemann also said, consumers should also continue to avoid raw cucumbers, tomatoes and salad leaves, as advised by Germany's main health body, the Robert Koch Institute.
Germany's national disease control centre raised the outbreak's death toll to 22, 21 in Germany and one in Sweden. Another 2,153 people in Germany have been affected, including 627 who have a serious complication that may cause kidney failure.
When patients began to be admitted to hospital more than a week ago, reporting crippling diarrhoea, the German authorities first blamed organic cucumbers from Spain. The number of cases continued to increase, but the effect on the massive Spanish fresh vegetable industry was immediate and devastating: growers couldn't give away produce, not just cucumbers but peppers, tomatoes, chilis, lettuce, avocados, and even citrus fruits, which had never been implicated.
Crates of vegetables were dumped at German consulates, but thousands of tonnes are rotting in the fields, in warehouses or have been dumpred in landfill. Spain's prime minister announced he would seek massive compensation from Germany. All over Europe growers found salads unsaleable.
Russia first announced a ban on German produce, then a blanket ban on all EU vegetable imports, which the EU said was "disproportionate".
Suspicion next fell on potatoes, after news that several victims ate in a restaurant for potato dishes.
