Food safetyGermany falsely identifies sprouts as source of outbreak

German health officials have mistakenly identified the source of the deadly E. coli outbreak once again.

Over the weekend, officials had announced that sprouts were the cause of an outbreak that has killed at least twenty-two people and left more than 600 in critical condition.

Authorities tested eighteen sprout mixtures including beans, peas, garlic, and radishes, but on Monday results showed that they were not the source of the outbreak. The sprouts in question originated from an organic farm in the Uelzen region, roughly sixty miles southeast of Hamburg.

This is the second time that health investigators have prematurely announced that they had found the source of the E.coli outbreak.

Much to the displeasure of Spanish farmers, last week German authorities incorrectly pointed to Spanish cucumbers after tests showed that they contained E.coli bacteria.

Further tests revealed that the E.coli found in the cucumbers contained a different strain of bacteria than the current outbreak.

The mistaken identification has greatly impacted the Spanish economy with officials estimating that Spain’s fruit and vegetable exporters are losing as much as $290 million a week.

Despite the German government’s findings that Spanish cucumbers were not the cause of the outbreak, wary consumers across Europe have stayed away from all of Spain’s produce. Russia and Qatar have even gone so far as to temporarily ban all fresh-produce imports from Europe.

As a result, demand has slowed to a trickle and Spanish farmers have been left with fields of rotting unwanted crops.

“We’re filling container upon container with produce to throw away,” said Noelia Perez, deputy financial director of Costa de Almeria, the farm initially blamed for the outbreak. “It’s horrendous.”

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain’s prime minister, is seeking reparations for his beleaguered farmers who are already been hit hard by the recession.

“We acted as we had to, and we are going to get reparations and the return of Spanish products to their rightful place,” Prime Minister Zapatero said.

The current outbreak plaguing Germany is from a particularly rare and deadly strain of E. coli that has affected more than 1,700 people.

The infection results in bloody diarrhea, sever cramps, and fevers, but more than 500 patients are suffering from a deadly complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), where the bacteria begins producing toxins that attack the kidney and nervous system.

According to the World Health Organization, 103 people in twelve countries have been affected by the outbreak. All but one were found to have recently travelled to Germany.

American health officials have reported four suspected cases of the infection from people who recently travelled to Hamburg, Germany.