15 June 2011

The European Union yesterday approved the proposed €210 million compensation package for farmers affected by the recent E.Coli crisis, which struck Northern Germany last month. Spain and France have reacted strongly to the offer, claiming the amount of compensation is too small, nevertheless, the EU said farmers would be paid a maximum of 50 per cent of their losses, based on the usual farm gate price.  image expired

The package went through with 163 votes in favour with 90 against and 92 abstentions. The final compensation figure will be decided on 22 July, after member countries substantiate the volumes to be covered.

The aid will go to producers of cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, courgettes and sweet peppers, which were withdrawn from the market from 26th May. To date the outbreak has killed at least 37 people and sickened around 3,000. Bean sprouts grown at a farm in the village of Bienenbuettel, near to the epicentre of the outbreak, were confirmed as the source of bacteria by German officials.

Spain, France, Poland and Slovakia voted against the package after demanding more help for farmers producing a wider range of fresh vegetables. Spanish farmers claim to have lost €225 million Euros each week since the crisis erupted; European farmers’ federation Copa-Cogeca puts the figure at €400 million per week across Europe.

Outbreak farm still under investigation

Although the farm identified as the source of the outbreak has been credited with ‘bad luck,’ as it complied with all safety regulations and no apparent means of contamination were found there, regional authorities are still looking for a definitive cause of the outbreak.

A spokesperson for the Lower Saxony Health Ministry revealed the two current hypotheses are that the seeds, which were imported from a variety of locations, were already contaminated, or that a farm worker brought the bacteria onto the farm; some of the farm’s workers have fallen ill.

Thomas Spieker, a Health Ministry spokesperson, said, “One of our topics is to focus on the products the employees of the farm have eaten with a focus on different kinds of sprouts, and also to conclude which employees got the disease and the ones that didn’t.”

E.Coli ‘still a threat’ in Germany

German officials have warned that the deadly E.Coli strain is still a threat and that the death toll may rise despite signs the rate of infection is decreasing. A warning against eating all sprouts is still in place in the country.

On Friday (10 June), Health Minister Daniel Bahr responded to mounting criticism over the handling of the outbreak; Bahr acknowledged that information should have been shared sooner, after coming under fire from scientists who believe the investigation should have focused on beansprouts from the beginning.