Cucumber causes bacteria outbreak in Germany

Imported cucumbers from Spain was considered as one of the sources of the deadly E. coli outbreak in the northern part of Germany. According to reports, hundreds of people were affected and 3 were already dead. Within the European Union, Spain is Germany's second largest supplier of cucumber. It has 40% of import in the country. Three of the four cucumbers found in a local market were actually imported from Spanish suppliers. The Hamburg Institute for Hygiene and the Environment (HU) discovered that the four cucumbers were contaminated by an Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC).

Because of these findings from Hamburg, German supermarket began to pull out Spanish cucumbers off their shelves. The Robert Koch Institute, a national disease health facility in Germany suggested that people in the meantime suggested to never eat raw products like tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuces.