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Spain mulls action over cucumbers
THE SPANISH government said yesterday it was considering legal action against the authorities in Hamburg for wrongly blaming its cucumbers as the source of an E. coli outbreak, which has led to the deaths of 17 people.
“We do not rule out taking action against the authorities who called into question the quality of our products,” deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said.
Spain’s fruit and vegetable exporters estimate they have lost more than €200m (£174m) since the outbreak emerged. Germany has admitted the bacteria did not come from Spain as initially reported, but said the decision to issue the warning had been correct as a different strain of E.coli was present in Spanish cucumbers.