European Food Safety Authority - Fenugreek seeds = sprout contamination
A report issued two days ago links the French and German E. coli (STEC) 0104:H4 outbreaks to fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt. The trace of the seeds from Egypt to container ship to distribution at garden centers is fascinating. For a full read, see the link below. "The comparison of the back tracing information from the French and German outbreaks leads to the conclusion that lot # 48088 of fenugreek seeds imported by the Importer, from Egypt, is the most likely common link, although it cannot be excluded that other lots may be implicated. Given the possible severe health impact of exposure to a small quantity of contaminated material, and, in the absence of information regarding the source and means of contamination and possible cross-contamination, it seems appropriate to consider all lots of fenugreek from the identified exporter as suspect. In this regard, the thus far negative test results from the microbiological tests carried out on seeds cannot be interpreted as proof