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E.Coli Egyptian link update

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The EU has banned the import of some Egyptian seeds and beans after fenugreek was linked to the E. coli outbreaks in Germany and France.

The European Food Safety Authority linked a batch of fenugreek seeds to outbreaks which claimed 49 lives.

Imports of seeds and beans “for sprouting” will be frozen until 31 October, EU officials said.

All fenugreek seed imported from one particular Egyptian company since 2009 would be destroyed, they added.

Member states decided to impose the ban after seeing the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report, the European Commission said in a news release.

“The decision provides that imports of Egyptian seeds and beans for sprouting are suspended until 31 October,” it added.

The banned items were defined as “seeds, fruit and spores used for sowing; leguminous vegetables, shelled or unshelled, fresh or chilled; fenugreek; dried leguminous vegetables, shelled, whether or not skinned or split; soya beans, whether or not broken; other oil seeds and oleaginous fruit, whether or not broken”.

E.coli bacteria

E.coli bacteria

In 2010, the EU imported about 49,000 tonnes of the types of seeds affected by the ban from Egypt , the commission said.

Their total value was more than 56m euros (£51m; $81m).

“The report published today leads us to withdrawing some Egyptian seeds from the EU market and to a temporary ban on imports of some seeds and beans originating from that country,” the European Commission’s Health and Consumer Commissioner, John Dalli, was quoted in the press release as saying.

“The commission will continue to monitor the situation very closely and will take additional measures if necessary.”

A single batch of fenugreek seeds is the likely cause of both a major outbreak of highly toxic E. coli – STEC O104:H4 – in Germany in May, and a smaller outbreak in France detected late last month, the EFSA said in its report.


The first outbreak caused 48 deaths in Germany and one in Sweden, while the total number of cases reported in the EU, Norway and Switzerland is 4,178, according to the agency.

In Begles, near Bordeaux in south-western France, seven people became infected after eating vegetable sprouts.

However, the death of a 78-year-old Frenchwoman in Bordeaux this month from a kidney disease caused by E. coli was not linked to STEC O104:H4, French officials said.

Other batches of fenugreek imported from Egypt during the period 2009-2011 might also be contaminated, the EFSA warned.

The actual contamination of the seeds with STEC O104:H4, it said, reflected “a production or distribution process which allowed contamination with faecal material of human and/or animal origin”.

“Where exactly this took place is still an open question,” the EU agency added.

Store own brands are just as good

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Supermarket budget ranges are just as nutritious as big-name brands, at a fraction of the price, according to research.

The finding, from a study of Britons’ favourite foods, including cereals, ketchup, pizzas and crisps, will bring comfort to millions of cash-strapped shoppers who have switched to ‘own labels’ as prices soar.

Professor Barbara Livingstone, who supervised the study by honours student Gemma Faulkner, said: ‘It is important these days when the price of food is going through the roof for people who might feel guilty about buying own brands to know they are not nutritionally inferior.’

The University of Ulster researchers bought own-brand versions of 32 of the UK’s most popular foods from six supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Lidl, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer.

Items included sausages, ham slices, beef burgers, poultry, fish, bread, cereal, fruit pies, confectionery, dairy products, frozen chips, baked beans and tomato ketchup.

In each case, they went for the most basic own-brand, such as the Tesco Value range, Sainsbury’s Basics and Waitrose Essentials.

They also bought a basket of the same foods made by big-name manufacturers. The food was bought in February 2010.

UK supermarkets

UK supermarkets

Researchers then analysed the products’ nutritional value, factoring in the fat, salt, sugar content and calories.

They also worked out how many calories shoppers were getting for every pound spent and compared the own-label with the big-brand versions.

This revealed the branded meat, poultry and fish-based dishes to be better nutritionally, perhaps because they contained less fat.

But own-label dairy products, such as rice pudding, custard and ice cream, beat the big names on nutrition.

Other cases where dearer was not necessarily better include ketchup, with Asda’s version being the most nutritious of all those tests, despite costing around a third of the price.


Overall, there was little or no difference in the nutrition of the two ranges – despite the vast differences in price, the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul heard.

Looking at just the own brands, Sainsbury’s was the most nutritious, and Waitrose, which is famed for its quality, the least, although the differences were small. When it came to value for money, Asda came out top.

John Noble, of the British Brands Group, which represents manufacturers of branded goods, said consumer preference was made up of a range of influences.

He added: ‘Healthy eating is one, the product that they are most familiar with might be another.

‘It might be that they buy particular products because they are widely available. Taste is also a factor.’