Scary Beansprouts (Sacre Bleu)

After the hospitalisation of eight people in the Bordeaux region of France last week it has been established that the strain of  E-coli (EHEC) is the same as the one which caused recent havoc in Germany, killing over 40 people.

Beansprouts were once again the culprit, but this time they were fenugreek, mustard and arugula seeds supplied by an English company, Thompson & Morgan. The French outbreak was thought to have originated at a school fair where the sprouts had been used to garnish a gazpacho soup.

With suspected cases both in Sweden and the USA of the virulent enterohaemorrhagic E-coli (104:H4) bacteria, politicians are calling for people not to panic whilst the sources are tracked by government environmental health departments. There has also been a renewal of interest in technologies such as irradiation, however this is unlikely to be used to treat salads and green vegetables, for logistical reasons as much as the current public resistance to such methods.

Scary Plasticiser

China recently responded to the threat of food adulteration (and the subsequent loss of valuable export markets) with the introduction of strict new laws, including the death penalty for some offences.

Now Taiwan is seeking jail sentences of up to 25 years for four people accused of selling banned chemicals to food makers. The use of industrial plasticizers (or as we in the UK say, “plasticisers”) has been widespread for 20 years according to some estimates but was only discovered by Taiwanese inspectors last month. They are used to replace more traditional but expensive emulsifiers such as palm oil or gum arabic, and they also extend the shelf-life of products such as cakes, bread, ice cream and multivitamin tablets.

The main culprit is DEHP, alias bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate or di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate and when found in food and drink can be carcinogenic. However, it accumulates in the body and can lead to kidney or testicular damage and also fertility problems if consumed regularly, especially by children.

Scary Lidl Beefburgers

Lidl has recalled meat from a French supplier (SEB) after seven children were hospitalised with the E coli bacteria, six of them in the northern French city of Lille. The meat supplied to the supermarket chain was from Germany, Belgium and Holland but was processed in France to make the "Steak Country" range of frozen hamburgers. An SEB spokesperson stressed that there had been rigorous testing of their product and hinted that the fault probably lay elsewhere.

Scary Beansprouts (Ja Doch)

So it's definitely the beansprouts, according to Reinhard Burger, the head of the German centre for disease control (Reuters 10/06/2011). A rummage in a bin found the smoking gun (some discarded packaging) and after "flawless" tests the organic farm in Bienenbuettel in northern Germany has been identified as the most likely source of the outbreak which has killed 31 people and left thousands of others sick, some with a severe complication called haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) which affects the blood, kidneys and nervous system.

The original source of the contamination is thought to be manure, farm slurry or faeces of some sort, since the Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) found in this outbreak are known to be able to live in the stomachs of cattle. This has raised serious concerns for the organic industry about its growing methods.

Authorities said it was now safe to eat tomatoes, cucumbers, and leafy salads (food originally suspected as the source), but bean sprouts should be avoided while studies continued. Meanwhile compensation has been increased for European farmers affected by the damage to their trade.

Scary Beansprouts

So, beansprouts may not now be the source of the E. Coli outbreak in North Germany. Or perhaps the source of the contamination has already passed throught the gullet of the public - leaving hundreds in hospital, some with very serious kidney damage. Meanwhile Spanish and Dutch growers demand more compensation from the EU.