Monday, July 11, 2011

WHERE ARE THE REST OF THE DEADLY SPROUT SEEDS?

And it still isn't over - by far. The investigation of the deadly sprout-linked E.coli outbreak in Europe continues. Now there is a frantic search for tons of missing deadly sprout seeds. They have to be found before they cause more illnesses and deaths.

It turns out that there were some 16 tons of fenugreek seed in that single shipment from Egypt (how many seeds is that?). No one realized at first how widely they had been distributed. A search of the German importer's records has now shown that they went to dozens of companies in some 12 European nations. The European Food Safety Authority is having a bureaucratic fit. And with reason.

The seeds shipment dates back to December, 2009. Some of the seed has most likely already been used, but some of it is probably still in company supply chains all over Europe, who knows exactly where. It has been sold and re-sold, packaged under a variety of labels, and is very difficult to trace. To say the least.

And we need to find all this seed in case more of it is carrying this super-toxic E.coli 0104. That isn't necessarily the case, as no doubt this huge shipment came from several seed growers. Most of the seed might be quite safe. But the trouble is that we don't know.

At least 4,100 illnesses in Germany, 49 deaths, and some 16 related illnesses in France. Enough!

To your good health,
TSF

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Such are the risks of globalisation. Each country has its own food safety and inspection standards. The best way to protect yourself is to buy locally.