German Bean Sprouts the “Cause” of E-Coli Outbreak

German-produced bean sprouts are the source of the E-coli outbreak that has killed 29 people, the Robert Koch Institute announced on Friday.

At a press conference, Reinhard Burger, President of the Robert Koch Institute, which is responsible for disease control and prevention in Germany, said that new data meant that there was enough evidence to name bean sprouts as the source, even though no sprouts from the organic farm Lower Saxony had tested positive for the previously unknown strain of E-coli.

“It was possible to narrow down epidemiologically the cause of the outbreak of the illness to the consumption of sprouts," Mr Burger said. "It is the sprouts."

The breakthrough came when those who had fallen ill were linked to 26 cafeterias and restaurants which had received produce form the farm.

Even though the farm that was named as the source of the outbreak had been shut down last Thursday and all its products recalled, experts have warned people not to eat bean sprouts, although it is highly likely that all the contaminated spouts have been consumed or thrown away by now.

Germany initially blamed imported Spanish cucumbers for the outbreak but this was proved to be false. Thousands of tests carried out on cucumbers, lettuces and tomatoes in Germany have come back negative. Andreas Hensel, head of Germany’s risk assessment agency, said that authorities were lifting the warning against other foodstuffs. “Lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers should be eaten again – it is all healthy produce," he said.

Following talks between EU officials, including Commission chief, Jose Manuel Barroso, and their Russian counterparts, Russia has agreed to lift its ban on imported vegetables in return for food safety guarantees from the European Commission. "We are ready to resume the shipments under guarantees of the EU authorities," President Dmitry Medvedev told reporters.

According to the European Commission, the total value of EU exports of fresh vegetables to Russia per year is 600m euros (£530m) – a quarter of the total number exported.

By Sarah Hill

[Image courtesy of ramtops]