At least 14 people have died from a batch of e-coli infected cucumbers. Authorities in the affected European states are scrambling to contain the virus which the German Institute for Risk Analysis warns is still active.
The enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, known as EHEC, causes watery or bloody diarrhea and can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome, renal failure and death.
The cause of the outbreak has not yet been confirmed.
In Germany, where the highest number of cases has been detected, “customers are very unsettled, particularly as the source has not been found in over a week now,” according to a spokesman for the Verbraucherzentrale association of Germany’s consumer advice centers.
One of the problems is confusion over where to look for information: regional authorities, the Health Ministry, the Robert Koch Institute for disease control and prevention, the German Center for Health Education, the Agriculture and Food Ministry, the European Union?
After Germany’s last major health scare in January, when high levels of carcinogenic dioxins were discovered in certain pork and egg products, the authorities resolved to set up a website to inform the public over future food warnings. But the website, www.lebensmittelwarnung.de, is not yet ready.
The latest outbreak couldn’t have come at a worse time for Europe’s agriculture as April, May and June are normally peak season for vegetable producers.
According to the German Association for Organizations of Fruit and Vegetable Growers, or BVEO, the industry is losing €4 million to €5 million per day due to the outbreak.
That’s peanuts compared to the hit Spain’s agricultural industry is taking, which Spanish Agricultural Minister Rosa Aguilar estimates is more than €200 million a week.
Germany initially said Spain was the site of the infection, however that claim was thrown into doubt Thursday when health officials in Hamburg said the strain found on the Spanish cucumbers was not the strain which infected hundreds of people.
Large supermarket chains such as Lidl and Metro have stopped selling Spanish cucumbers, and a spokesman for Metro said there has been a “considerable drop” in sales of produce from Spain generally.
In the short term, analysts don’t expect the infection to have much of an effect on retailers’ overall earnings, as salad is such a small part of their sales.
However shoppers are increasingly asking after the origin of products in Metro stores, a spokesman for the store said.
A spokesman for Germany’s Alliance of Organic Food Businesses said even though it’s too early to measure the sales impact on organic food as a whole, although shoppers are noticeably more reluctant to buy tomatoes, cucumbers and salads.
Until consumers get clarity on the source of the deadly bug, they’re likely to remain highly cautious about what goes into their shopping baskets.
The enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, known as EHEC, causes watery or bloody diarrhea and can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome, renal failure and death.
The cause of the outbreak has not yet been confirmed.
In Germany, where the highest number of cases has been detected, “customers are very unsettled, particularly as the source has not been found in over a week now,” according to a spokesman for the Verbraucherzentrale association of Germany’s consumer advice centers.
One of the problems is confusion over where to look for information: regional authorities, the Health Ministry, the Robert Koch Institute for disease control and prevention, the German Center for Health Education, the Agriculture and Food Ministry, the European Union?
After Germany’s last major health scare in January, when high levels of carcinogenic dioxins were discovered in certain pork and egg products, the authorities resolved to set up a website to inform the public over future food warnings. But the website, www.lebensmittelwarnung.de, is not yet ready.
The latest outbreak couldn’t have come at a worse time for Europe’s agriculture as April, May and June are normally peak season for vegetable producers.
According to the German Association for Organizations of Fruit and Vegetable Growers, or BVEO, the industry is losing €4 million to €5 million per day due to the outbreak.
That’s peanuts compared to the hit Spain’s agricultural industry is taking, which Spanish Agricultural Minister Rosa Aguilar estimates is more than €200 million a week.
Large supermarket chains such as Lidl and Metro have stopped selling Spanish cucumbers, and a spokesman for Metro said there has been a “considerable drop” in sales of produce from Spain generally.
In the short term, analysts don’t expect the infection to have much of an effect on retailers’ overall earnings, as salad is such a small part of their sales.
However shoppers are increasingly asking after the origin of products in Metro stores, a spokesman for the store said.
A spokesman for Germany’s Alliance of Organic Food Businesses said even though it’s too early to measure the sales impact on organic food as a whole, although shoppers are noticeably more reluctant to buy tomatoes, cucumbers and salads.
Until consumers get clarity on the source of the deadly bug, they’re likely to remain highly cautious about what goes into their shopping baskets.
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