Russia bans Egyptian seeds imports over E. coli outbreak

[News_Editor]

Russia bans Egyptian seeds imports over E. coli outbreak

2011-07-06 23:25:39 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOSCOW (BNO NEWS) -- Russia's sanitary watchdog Rospotrebnadzor on Wednesday banned the imports of several kinds of seeds and sprouts from Egypt after it was determined that the E. coli bacteria originated in the North African country.

According to RIA Novosti, the ban will include imports of seeds and sprouts of beans, beet, arugula, buckwheat and mustard. The prohibition followed the report of the European Food Safety Authority's task force (EFSA) released on Tuesday.

"Additional data that we have received provides us with grounds to ban products from Egypt," said Gennady Onishenko, Russia's chief sanitary doctor.

EFSA said that one batch of fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt likely carried the bacteria and caused the deadly E. coli outbreak which affected mostly Germany and France.

On Tuesday, the European Union ordered the withdrawal of certain types of seeds from Egypt from the market and temporarily banned Egyptian fenugreek seeds and beans for sprouting until October 31.

The EFSA report stressed that the contamination probably occurred before the seeds left the importer but exactly where and how this took place is still unknown. It is believed that it may have taken place during the production or distribution process.

In early June, Russia banned the import of fresh vegetables from the 27 EU Member States due to the new, never before seen strain of E. coli. The move was severely criticized by the EU.

Russia resumed trade of EU vegetables in June after an agreement with the EU. Under the deal, any Member State exporting fresh vegetables to Russia will have to certify the origin of the product and the absence of E. coli for a limited period of time.

Initially, it was suspected that Spanish cucumbers carried the bacteria but this theory was ruled out by the EU and the alert notification from the Rapid Alert System on Food and Feed (RASFF) was removed.

The outbreak has so far killed 48 people in Germany and one in Sweden. In addition, at least 4,178 people have fallen ill, nearly all of them in Germany. Dozens of cases have also been reported in the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and other European countries, but most victims recently traveled to Germany

In August 1996, an outbreak of E. coli serotype O157:H7 in Japan sickened at least 9,578 people, most of them children. A total of 11 people died as a result of the outbreak, which was likely caused by radish sprouts.

And in May 2000, seven people were killed and more than 2,300 people were sickened after E. coli strain O157 polluted drinking water in the Canadian town of Walkerton.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-07-06