Dick Dasterdly

Surprised no one has began a thread on the humble and apparently much maligned Spanish cucumber before now.
It has all along appeared strange to me that no cases of this e-coli infection have been reported in S. Spain where the problem was first said to originate.
The one common factor appears to have been a particular area of N.Germany.
The Germans now believe they have traced the source of infection to one of their own farms and bean-sprouts in particular which might also have resulted in some cross infection with tomatoes and cucumbers.
As it does not grow naturally on such plants I wonder if it has been caused by the use of untreated sewage of some sort.
In any event this affair must have resulted in substantial losses for Spanish growers who were already struggling through difficult times.
Will be interesting to see if they have a case for compensation as a result of wrongful accusations, if the infection is proved to be from Germany, not forgetting of course the families of those who have died and those still suffering.

jackytoo

I am not suprised that no-one started a thread when it was thought the spanish cucumber was to blame...bit too negative for this forum wasn't it. Now the spanish aren't to blame we can all discuss it

Rosemary

Maybe members were waiting to for all of the facts to be presented, particularly as we in Spain would be directly affected by the food chain. I know that there are one or two posters who like reporters never let the facts interfere with a good story but at least now it looks as though the Germans did protest too much, seems to be a lot of this around.
I agree the Spanish farmers seem to be an easy target although why I do not know, major problems within the British farming industry are common, their use of shall we say suspect feeding methods are well documented. Grazing animals should never be fed with animal protein.
Oh well it is not the first time they will take the blame and no doubt will not be the last, let us hope they receive adequate compensation and we can all help by eating more Gazpacho.

Graham

jackytoo

Well there are a lot of cucumbers to get through. Arab Emirates the latest to ban European produce. You may be able to buy them for about 10 cents

jdr

Good post Graham, I think it is pretty obvious why no thread was started, it would only give the Spain bashers another chance to flame, as it was they had to start it themselves.
So stupid of the Germans to jump before they looked.

Dick Dasterdly

Err, just hope you're not insinuating I'm a Spanish basher with that remark.

If you read my post you'll see I have every sympathy for their unjustified plight.

Rosemary

I totally agree with your first post, our little town is based on farmers and farmworkers and I know how hard they work. In all walks of life there are too many people who´s ability appears to be knocking everything and not really being much use to man nor beast, no doubt it was German politicians that started to blame Spain because politicians of every country seem to be the experts at passing the buck.
Many years ago on the radio, 5 to 10 lift up your hearts, if you remember the five minute God slot on radio 2, a vicar stated that one of the major troubles with society can be summed up in a clause in every car insurance policy," do not accept responsibility." I had to agree with him then and even more so now. People do not have the guts to take responsibility unless they are forced to do so, yes a generalisation.
My rant, now over you can all wake up again.

Graham

jackytoo

But no-one did...did they

HBG

I noticed that on our shopping trip last week, nobody seemed to be buying cucumbers, lettuce or tomatoes, heaps of them were piled up in Mercadona and people were walking right past them. My wife is a generally stroppy person and bought more than we usually buy of each, throwing me a defiant look as she piled them into the trolley.

For some reason, I stayed away from them over the weekend, but the defiant one had salad with everything, even the roast lamb yesterday.

I can hear her now, she's in the toilet, it must be her third visit this morning. Luckily we didn't buy any beansprouts.

steviedeluxe

It's all a worry. Last week I went off eating salad; now I'm going to avoid Chinese takeaways. Best to stick to good old fish n chips, perhaps?

jackytoo

I seem to remember there was a health scare before in the UK re. beansprouts?

Dick Dasterdly

Now they think it's probably neither beansprouts or cucumbers.
Wonder whats next on their suspect list.
I would have thought that the plants themselves were unlikely to be the original source as it's unlikely e-coli could have grown on them without some form of contamination.
Seems to me the Germans need to get their act together,..... all this time and nothing more than two probable false claims.

I reckon our lads would have sorted it long ago.

bil

Beansprouts strike me as risky as they are grown in a comparatively warm, moist environment. bacteria love that sort of thing, and all it takes is someone who fails to wash their hands to start a problem.

I suppose it's a testament to the care that people DO take that this sort of thing isn't commonplace.

I myself was very ill once after eating beansprouts, and have never been able to eat them since.

lovingthesun

Yes, I never like the look of those all bagged up in Mercadona - could have been festering under the warm lights for days. Far better to sprout your own mung beans - dead simple and healthy

bil

Trouble, I fell foul of a bad food connection. If you eat something for the first time and are very sick, the body marks it as a bad idea, and consequently even though I'm intellectually aware that it might not even have been the beensprouts, I am nauseated at the thought of eating them.