2 June 2011

Spanish farmers say panic caused by E Coli cases affecting EU states has cost them dearly, as sales of fresh produce dwindle and shipments are turned away at the Spanish border. Spain has accused Germany of costing its producers €200m a week. It says that three million kilograms of fruit and vegetables have been wasted after Germany prematurely blamed Spanish cucumbers for the E Coli outbreak.

Spain has threatened to take legal action against Germany over the accusation levelled at Spanish cucumbers, which was made before test results were known. The outbreak has so far killed 18 people in Germany and one in Sweden, with 1,500 cases reported throughout Europe. German officials have warned people in the country against eating lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Brussels has said it is studying how to compensate the industry for the losses to its haulage, farming and packing and processing industries, all of which have been hit. Spanish trade unions say the scare has jeopardised 70,000 jobs. Farmers are concerned they may be facing a drop in prices across the board for Spanish, or by extension European, produce until the source of the outbreak is known.

Russia bans imports, condemned by EU as ‘disproportionate’

Russia has today (Thursday 2nd June) announced a ban on imports of European raw vegetables in response to the E Coli scare. Russia had already banned imports of vegetables from Germany and Spain over the outbreak, however Minister Gennady Onishchenko announced the extended ban would be taking effect this morning.

Onishchenko, head of the Russian consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor, used the opportunity to hit out at the EU, saying the deaths "demonstrate that the much-praised European sanitary legislation, which Russia is being urged to adopt, does not work."

The news comes as German health officials admit that the precise cause of the infections may never be discovered. Denis Coulombier, head of surveillance and response for the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), responsible for monitoring disease in the EU, explained that studies so far show a strong link between disease symptoms and the consumption of fresh vegetables.

In an interview, Colombier revealed that, "to have such a high number of severe cases means that probably there was a huge contamination at some junction.” However, due to the nature of the supply chain, “That could have been anywhere from the farm to the fork -- in transport, packaging, cleaning, at wholesalers, or retailers -- anywhere along that food chain."

The EU has expressed outrage at Russia’s decision. EU Health Commission John Dalli is expected to write to Moscow over the ban; a spokesperson for Dalli called Russia’s action “disproportionate.”

Outbreak caused by new strain

The World Health Organization today announced that that the E Coli bacteria responsible for the current outbreak are of a new strain that has never before been seen.

According to health officials, preliminary genetic sequencing suggests the strain is a mutant form of two different E. coli bacteria, with lethal genes; the bacteria can cause a rare kidney failure complication. They say this could explain why the Europe-wide outbreak appears to be so devastating.