A "super-toxic" strain of E. coli bacteria has been traveling across Europe for the past week, killing 22 people and sickening thousands more. Although fingers were initially pointed at cucumbers imported from Spain, it now appears that German-grown bean sprouts are likely the culprit instead.
Testing isn't entirely complete yet, but German agriculture officials say they have pinpointed a farm in Lower Saxony as the likely producer of the sprouts, which were distributed to several restaurants that suffered from outbreaks. An employee of the sprout supplier was also infected. Officials are still warning against eating cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce—all previous infection-causing suspects—until test results are official.
Last year, bean sprouts were responsible for a salmonella outbreak in the UK. And last week, The New York Times published an op-ed called "The Next Outbreak," slamming Congress for not giving the FDA funding to enforce the Food Safety Modernization Act, and claiming that Americans are in a state of "naive complacency" over the possibility of a serious food safety disaster. The FDA announced today that they are "currently conducting increased surveillance of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and raw salads, as well as sprouts and sprout seeds from areas of concern."
