German Farmers getting hit hard with e-coli scare...

[grnidone]

Anyone in Germany?  I feel for these people...

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,766910,00.html

Due to the E. coli crisis, the vegetable grower is now losing €250,000 ($365,000) -- each day.

Shit almighty.  I can't even imagine.  Any of you Euro folk being affected by this?  (As in, have you stopped eating raw veggies?)

[Rumbas]

It has been a horrible hit on our local cucumber farmers. NObody wanted to buy their crop at all.

[Zwart]

As they've now ruled out cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and bean sprouts as the most likely culprits, those may well be the only things one can safely eat  

[Rooftop]

Germany has always been front of the queue to increase panic when other countries have a food safety issue (usually fighting to be first with France and Spain to be honest).  It's not nice when any producers are affected, however it does feel somewhat more Karmic when it is happening in Germany.

Strangely this is sort of a specialist topic of mine.  Honestly - I have a long list of qualifications relating to things that make you shit yourself.

[grnidone]

Here in Kansas, the worst that can really happen is a hail storm the week before wheat harvest.  That'll take out a crop, but only this years crop. 

People are much more fickle, and I have to wonder when and IF they will feel safe eating any raw vegetables...

This could hurt these farmers for much longer after the gov says its OK to eat vegetables again.

[Gurtie]

honestly, here in the UK I don't think anyone's stopped eating raw veg. Sure some people must have but aside from a few bits of dark humour at lunchtime its pretty much business as usual when the food hits the supermarket shelves I think. In Germany it may be very different but this doesn't seem to be a mad-cow style scenario with years of impact to come

I think spain got hit during peak export period (?) and its not exactly financial fun for them right now anyway, but more Northern European farming probably has bigger problems coming from lack of rain this year than from e-coli

[Rooftop]

>Strangely this is sort of a specialist topic of mine.  Honestly - I have a long list of qualifications relating to things that make you sh## yourself.

Are you honestly a poo doctor?

I wish... I would have it printed in exactly that form on my business cards.

Pre-web I used to teach food safety (and a few other things) in hotels & nursing homes.  Did food safety consultancy as well.  More in poo-prevention than poo-mop-up.   

I'll be honest - there aren't that many transferrable skills to what I do now.  In fact the first opportunity there was I missed when you registered that domain!

[Rooftop]

Weirdly poo.tv is really tempting. 

[Zwart]

Still don't believe that  altho I (accidentally) left the bean sprouts out of my homemade soup tonight.

[Rooftop]

Not a food that comes immediately to mind are they?

With e.coli infection only really comes from one source: contact with poo (human or animal).  Not nice to think about, but in itself that is pretty common is a surprisingly wide range of food.

The risk with beansprouts comes from the combination of the growing temps you mentioned (wasn't aware of that), it being a high protein food and then being comsumed with little or no cooking.  Great environment for growth and then bugger all chance of rendering it safe again prior to consumption. 

The faecal contamination part is one of the increased risks of organic food

[Rupert]

The faecal contamination part is one of the increased risks of organic food

Interesting link.  Is that because Organic generally means smaller units and so more likely they use the septic tank to help it grow?

[Rupert]

You dont see what is put on the fields round here sometimes....

[4Eyes]

yeah - but also everyone knows that the hippies who grow beansprouts don't wash their hands often enough......... probably