E coli outbreak: bean sprouts may not be to blame

[xynthee]

An investigation into a deadly outbreak of E coli has been thrown into chaos after laboratory tests showed that bean sprouts grown near Hamburg, which had been identified as the likely source, are possibly not to blame.

German officials had said they were confident that sprouts from the organic Gärtenhof farm in Lower Saxony were behind the spread of a particularly virulent strain of the bacterium. There were "strong and clear indications" that the farm was involved, the federal health minister, Daniel Bahr, said.

However, Lower Saxony's agriculture ministry said 23 of 40 samples from the farm had now tested negative for the E coli, with 17 more tests still being done.

"The search for the outbreak's cause is very difficult as several weeks have passed since its suspected start," the ministry said in a statement, while warning that the negative tests did not conclusively prove the sprouts had not been contaminated. The ministry said it may be some time before Europe's shoppers know for sure what foodstuffs are safe: "A conclusion of the investigations and a clarification of the contamination's origin is not expected in the short term."

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/06/e-coli-bean-sprouts-not-cause

I hope they figure this out soon!!

[Avalux]

1. Yep, had my doubts about bean sprouts. Too many infected.

No way that many people ate sprouts from the same farm in a short amount of time.

[xynthee]

2. They're potentially slandering a lot of different organic farmers

with their seemingly unfounded assertions. Have any non-organic factory farms been suggested as the culprit(s)??

Which organically-grown vegetable or fruit will be next to be defamed?

[Chemisse]

3. This whole crisis is going to leave a string of lawsuits in its wake, it seems.

I sure hope they figure it out soon.