The European Commission has announced that the amount of compensation going to EU farmers affected by the German E.Coli crisis, originally agreed at €210 million, has risen to €227 million as the number of EU vegetable growers requiring compensation is so high. Produce was withdrawn from the market between late May and the end of June as a result of the disease, in which 50 people died in Germany and one in Sweden.

The initial total was agreed upon in June, covering a variety of produce, after Spanish cucumbers were incorrectly identified as the source of the outbreak, which led to bans on European produce and a drastic loss of income for farmers and exporters. Among countries hardest hit by the withdrawals, Spain will receive €70.97 million, Poland 46 million, Italy 34.6 million, the Netherlands 27.18 million, Germany 16 million and Portugal five million.

In a statement, the EC admitted that the financial impact of the measures taken to counteract the E.coli crisis, which saw cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuces left to rot as politicians advised consumers against eating fresh produce, had been "slightly bigger than expected". The Commission assured that the new figure would meet the full compensation demanded.EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloş said he hoped the increase would go towards ensuring EU producers who lost out in June were "properly supported" in these difficult economic times.  

However, although they have welcomed the increase, many in the UK farming industry said the revised amount still falls short of the cost to vegetable growers here and elsewhere in the EU. NFU horticultural adviser Dr Chris Hartfield welcomed the increase in support, "We are pleased because it means the UK growers impacted by this crisis who have been able to make a claim for aid should receive that claim in full."

However, he reiterated that the compensation offered would only cover a fraction of the damage done to affected growers, "The fact remains that British growers have only been able to claim for less than £600,000 of aid, when the real cost of this German outbreak to their businesses runs into several million."

The EC compensation rate is still a maximum of 50 per cent of the producer price for the time of year, or 70 per cent for members of producers’ organisations.