Spain will seek compensation after a deadly bacteria outbreak in Germany that has killed 17 people was wrongly blamed on Spanish cucumbers, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Thursday.
In other developments, the UAE banned imports of cucumbers from four European countries, the National Daily reported, while a Japanese restaurant chain is blaming Australian beef for another outbreak of E. coli infections.
SPANISH INQUISITION
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In Spain, anger was growing. "Yesterday, it became clear, with the analyses carried out by the Spanish agency for food safety, that there is not the slightest indication that the origin of the serious infection is in any Spanish product," he said in an interview with Spanish national radio.
"Therefore, I would have liked a clearer reaction from the (European) Commission...
"Now we have a very ambitious task ahead of us, which is to recover our good reputation as soon as possible and the trade in all Spanish products."
Spain will also "seek reparations before the relevant authorities in Europe for the harm sustained," he said.
Spain's fruit and vegetable exporters estimate they have lost more than 200 million euros ($290 million) a week as 150,000 tonnes of produce went unsold in a Europe-wide reaction to the outbreak of E.coli that has killed 16 people in Germany and one in Sweden.
The European Commission late Wednesday lifted its warning to consumers over Spanish cucumbers that had been suspected of causing the outbreak.
It said tests carried out on cucumbers in Germany and in Spain "did not confirm the presence of the specific serotype (O104), which is responsible for the outbreak affecting humans.
"After this development, the European Commission has removed the alert notification on Spanish cucumbers from the Rapid Alert System on Food and Feed," it said in a statement.
Spain's health ministry confirmed it had been informed of the decision.
"The European Commission has lifted the health warning against Spanish cucumbers coming from Almeria that had been imposed last Thursday after the erroneous report of the German authorities," it said in a statement.
It said the decision "is a very important step to restore normalcy as soon as possible to the Spanish agricultural sector."
Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said Wednesday that Madrid might sue the city of Hamburg, whose officials first issued the warning.
Of 9.4 million tonnes of Spanish fruit and vegetables exported in 2010, the biggest share, 24 percent, went to Germany, according to the Spanish producers' federation FEPEX.
Hamburg health authorities admitted Tuesday that tests on two suspect Spanish cucumbers showed they did not carry the bacteria strain responsible.
Hamburg authorities say they are still searching for the source of the outbreak.
Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli can result in full-blown haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a disease that causes bloody diarrhoea and serious liver damage and which can result in death.
An 84-year-old woman whose death was announced Wednesday brought the European toll from the outbreak to 17, all but one in Germany, and hundreds more have fallen sick. But there was still no clear word on its cause.
AUSSIE BEEF SCARE
Meanwhile, Australian beef has been singled out in a separate E.coli scare in Japan.
The E. coli strain involved is not the same as the one causing the current outbreak in Europe.
Japanese officials say the E. coli has been found among at least 15 customers of a Korean-style barbecue restaurant in Japan.
Of the 20 people who became sick in Toyama prefecture, 15 were infected with the O157 strain of E. coli bacteria after eating at an outlet of the popular Gyukaku restaurant chain on May 6, local officials told reporters on Thursday.
All 20 patients experienced moderate symptoms and have recovered, they said, adding that the diners probably used the same chopsticks to cook raw meat slices and to eat them.
REINS International, the Tokyo-based operator of the Gyukaku chain, apologised and said it suspected the infections might have been caused by Australian beef imports.
The company said it had changed its Australian supplier, but a public health inspection of the affected restaurant did not find E. coli bacteria.
At least four people in Japan have died from E. coli bacteria food poisoning since April after eating raw beef at a different low-price Korean-style barbecue restaurant chain.
