Food Safety Authority: Spanish cucumbers infected with EHEC have not been imported into Finland

”It was just a question of time when people would start to fall ill”, estimated the association of Finnish Market Gardeners

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The Finnish Food Safety Authority (EVIRA) reported on Friday that it is unlikely that Spanish cucumbers infected with the EHEC bacterium, a particularly unpleasant and virulent strain of E. coli, have been imported into Finland.
      Reportedly, vegetables contaminated by the EHEC bacterium have already caused a stomach flu epidemic in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, with more 300 reported cases of the disease. The source of all infections has been the food eaten in Germany.
      According to the current information, the EHEC bacterium has been found in the cucumbers produced by some Spanish enterprises located in the regions of Almeria and Malaga.
      As far as is known, a part of the potentially contaminated batch of cucumbers has been shipped to Denmark, says Jaana Husu-Kallio, Director-General of EVIRA.
     
EVIRA urges people to avoid eating Spanish cucumbers for the time being. In addition, the Food Safety Authority reminds people that it is important to wash all vegetables thoroughly before they are consumed.
      ”If someone has been travelling in Germany and has fallen ill after the trip, he or she should definitely go to the doctor”, Husu-Kallio says.
     
In May, most of the cucumbers for sale in Finland have been domestic. For example, the large retailers - Kesko and S-Group - report that they started to sell only Finnish cucumbers already a month ago, once the sales of domestic vegetables had got off to a good start.
      ”Spanish vegetables play an important role in our shops particularly in the winter season. Almeria is the main production area of cucumbers, from where we have also imported vegetables. However, we have not ordered anything from the suppliers in question”, reports Ilkka Alarotu, the Director of Assortments and Pricing at the S-Group.
      According to the figures gathered by Statistics Finland, the value of vegetables imported from Spain into Finland in the course of the winter months of 2010 was EUR 7 to 10 million per month.
      During the summer months, the value of the vegetables imported from that area declined to EUR 1 to 3 million per month.
     
”Producing vegetables is professional work. The source of the EHEC bacterium is faeces, and the infections are related to the use of contaminated irrigation water. It is important to make sure that the water used for irrigation is first-rate”, Husu-Kallio argues.
      Based on the current information, Husu-Kallio does not see any reason for taking bacterium samples from imported vegetables in Finland. Instead, she says that the European Commission should consider calling for an investigation into the occurrence of the EHEC bacteria in vegetables.
     
Jyrki Jalkanen, the executive manager of the association of the Finnish market gardeners, says that it was just a question of time when such infections would start to occur.
      When it comes to the risks of imported vegetables, the use of pesticides and the workers’ conditions at greenhouses have been the only burning topic of discussion so far.
      ”In the Almera region in Southern Spain, water supplies have given rise to a lively debate for many years. When there is a shortage of water, people tend to use even inferior sources of water”, Jalkanen notes.
     
The number of infections caused by the EHEC bacterium is increasing.
      On Friday the number of serious cases of the disease was already more than 300.
      According to the latest information, already ten people have died in Germany as a result of the EHEC infection.
      In addition to Germany, the Spanish vegetables have caused infections at least in Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain, and the Netherlands.
     
     
According to the World Health Organization, Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacterium that is commonly found in the gut of humans and warm-blooded animals. Most strains of E. coli are harmless. Some strains however, such as enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), can cause severe foodborne disease. It is transmitted to humans primarily through consumption of contaminated foods, such as raw or undercooked ground meat products and raw milk.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Grocery stores call for more organic products on their shelves (24.3.2011)

Links:
  Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira
  World Health Organization: Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC)

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