Freshfel Europe has written a letter to Dacian Ciolos, the European commissioner for agriculture, highlighting the need to restore consumer confidence amid the ongoing uncertainty about the E.coli outbreak in Germany.
Ramon Rey, the president of Freshfel Europe, stated: 'This crisis is unfortunately not only damaging the production but also has a significant impact upon a wide range of operators across the chain.'
Freshfel believes the EU should finance in full a plan of action to reduce the long-lasting impact of the outbreak on fresh produce sales.
In some EU countries sales of cucumbers were down 80-100 per cent, tomatoes dropped 50-80 per cent and lettuce by more than 50 per cent.
'We would favour the implementation of a fast-track European generic promotion/communication campaign focusing on the benefits of consuming fresh produce,' Rey added.
