Spanish angry at E.coli cucumber claims

The Spaniards are seething and quite rightly so after the Germans accused them of being the source of the E.coli outbreak which has killed 16 people, 15 in Germany and one in Sweden after travelling to Germany.

Spain’s agriculture minister said Germany pointed to Spanish cucumbers “without having reliable data”.

Meanwhile, German officials have voiced doubts about whether the Spanish cucumbers they are investigating carried the deadly E. coli strain.

German authorities initially pointed to organic cucumbers from Spain. But Spanish officials have refused to accept the blame, saying it is still unclear exactly when and where the vegetables were contaminated.

Spanish Agriculture Minister Rosa Aguilar said: “We are disappointed by the way Germany handles the situation.” “We want Germany to provide, without any delay and distractions, the necessary information of its investigation so that the European Union can know what is causing the E. coli outbreak.”

Speaking at an EU meeting in Hungary, she also said the issue should be treated as a “common problem” and that there should be compensation for Spanish and other European producers affected.

The Netherlands has also said it will ask for compensation.

The president of Spain’s fruit and vegetable export federation has urged the government to deal with the outbreak, saying it was costing Spanish exporters $200m (£120m) a week.

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