European agriculture ministers are meeting in Luxembourg this afternoon to discuss compensation after it was found beansprouts were not to blame for the E. coli outbreak that has killed 22 people.
The organic beansprout producing farm in the village of Bienenbüttel, south of Hamburg had been attributed with the blame by German officials on Sunday but initial tests failed to provide any evidence that the farm's produce or premises were contaminated with the aggressive mutant strain of E.coli.
Two Gärtenhof farm’s workers contracted diarrhoea and one of them became infected with E.coli last week and the farm is still considered to be a likely a source of the outbreak.
Ministers will attempt to agree financial aid for fruit and vegetable producers hit by the E. coli outbreak.
The European Commission expects to reach a provisional agreement in Luxembourg with the structure and amount of compensation yet to be defined.
It has been suggested the extension of an existing EU crisis prevention scheme, which compensates fruit and vegetable producers for withdrawing products from the market, is the most likely option.
Producers would receive of June about 30 per cent of the value of unsold products paid directly from the EU budget until the end under such a plan.
Spanish cucumbers were originally blamed for the outbreak and the Spanish ministry for agriculture is demanding recompense.
Prices for salad products continue to be at rock bottom. Dutch tomatoes on Glasgow wholesale market made just 200-250p for 6kg this morning while cucumbers were 240p for 12s. English beansprouts made 350p for 4kg.
One wholesaler said: “The salad job is shocking. Trade has been really slow on all products although it might pick up in the next couple of days.”
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