BERLIN: Germany blamed vegetable sprouts Friday for a bacteria outbreak that has killed at least 31, left some 3,000 ill and cost farmers across Europe hundreds of millions in lost sales. “It's the sprouts,” Reinhard Burger, the president of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national disease centre, told a news conference on the outbreak of enterohaemorrhagic E.coli (EHEC) in northern Germany. “People who ate sprouts were found to be nine times more likely to have bloody diarrhoea or other signs of EHEC infection than those who did not,” he said, citing a study of more than 100 people who fell ill after dining in restaurants. As a result, the government lifted a warning against eating raw tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers which had dealt a stinging blow to farmers at the peak of the fresh produce season in Europe. “This is a good sign for consumers because we now have more clarity,” Health Minister Daniel Bahr told reporters, as he defended the government's crisis management against criticism from the opposition and abroad. “We are pretty relieved,” Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Minister Ilse Aigner added at the joint news conference, in comments echoed by the German farmers' association. – Agence France
