Up to 10 people have fallen ill in France in a new E.coli outbreak after having reportedly eaten rocket and mustard vegetable sprouts, which the French authorities have linked with a UK vegetable seeds supplier.
The latest outbreak, which is said to be the same strain of the bacteria - E.coli O104:H4 - which killed 43 people in Germany and Sweden, has been traced to a charity event at a children’s play centre in a suburb of Bordeaux, in south-western France on 8 June.
According to reports, seven people remain hospitalised, with two in intensive care although health authorities for the surrounding province of Aquitaine said that no new cases had been reported over recent days.
French officials have linked the outbreak with seeds supplied by UK vegetable seeds company Thompson & Morgan, a claim strongly rejected by the firm.
In a statement, the Ipswich-based company, which supplies seeds by mail order, said it was 'aware that an unsubstantiated link had been made between the outbreak and the eating of sprouting seeds'.
However, it highlighted the confirmation by France's secretary of state for consumer affairs, Frederic Lefebvre, that no link between E.coli symptoms and the eating of sprouting seeds had been established.
'We note that the French outbreak seems to be localised to a specific event, which would indicate to us that something local in the Bordeaux area, or the way the product has been handled and grown, is responsible for the incident rather than our seeds,' said a spokesperson for Thompson & Morgan.
'We understand that the French authorities are in the process of testing both the seeds and investigating how they were grown.
'We have sold more than 100,000 packets of sprouting seeds in France, from more than 500 outlets. To date, there have been no reported incidents of any problems either in France, the UK or anywhere else they are sold,' she added.
Thompson & Morgan said it had supplied three samples to the UK Environmental Health Department for testing and was co-operating with the agency 'to help them in their enquiries in eliminating possible sources of the outbreak.'
However, sale of rocket, fenugreek and mustard vegetable seeds have been stopped in France, while the UK’s Food Standards Agency is advising consumers only to eat alfalfa, beansprouts and fenugreek if “cooked thoroughly and steaming hot throughout”.
