British farmers have been forced to discard tonnes of salad crops as demand from shoppers has slumped following the deadly Escherichia coli outbreak.
Roger Sayer, Director of Humber Growers Ltd, East Yorkshire, with the discarded cucumbers. Photo: Les Gibbon
9:00PM BST 04 Jun 2011
1 Comment British farmers have been forced to discard tonnes of salad crops as demand from shoppers has slumped following the deadly Escherichia coli outbreak.
Growers warned that the crisis could drive them out of business, even though no case of poisoning has been linked to vegetables produced in the UK.
Cucumber farms have been badly hit after German officials initially – and wrongly – blamed the outbreak on cucumbers from Spain. There has also been a drop in demand for tomatoes, peppers and lettuce.
It came as German officials continued to investigate the source of the E. coli outbreak in the north of the country, which has killed 18 people and left more 1,800 seriously ill.
Suspicion has now fallen on a festival held in the northern port of Hamburg, which was attended by 1.5 million people, to celebrate the anniversary of the harbour.
The annual Hafengeburtstag, at the beginning of May, attracts huge crowds and is filled with vendors selling street food.
Researchers at the Robert Koch Institute say cases of illness began to spike after May 9, the day after the six-day festival closed.
Police in the city are also investigating two food wholesalers and a restaurant on suspicion of selling contaminated vegetables.
Officials were also probing a restaurant in Lübeck, 40 miles north-east of Hamburg.
The owner of the restaurant Joachim Berger said he was devastated to hear some of his customers after one person died and 17 others fell sick, including a party of tax officials, after apparently eating at his Kartoffel Keller (Potato Cellar).
The restaurant is not thought to be the source but could have been supplied with contaminated produce.
Mr Berger said: "It was like a blow to the head when I heard the news. We had everyone here tested and everything was disinfected. I paid for the tests myself because safety is important for our guests and employees."
Berger said health inspectors came to his restaurant last week but found nothing. More test results are due on Monday.
"We had a group of women here from the tax authorities and they ate à la carte," he said. "They enjoyed their meal. But the group was in town for quite a few days and also ate elsewhere.
"None of our employees is sick and they all eat salad and everything we have here."
The outbreak is being caused by a new strain of E. coli, among the deadliest in modern history.
Since the beginning of May, more than 1,800 cases have appeared across 12 European countries, while there have been 90 in the US. All seven cases in the UK have been in individuals who were recently in Germany.
Public health officials say the risk to people buying vegetables in the UK is very low, but have advised that all fresh produce is washed thoroughly.
Wholesalers traders in the UK said prices were half their normal level, while market stall holders said they were throwing away boxes of unsold vegetables. Morrisons supermarkets also reported a drop in sales.
Roger Sayer, managing director of Humber Growers, in East Yorkshire, said he had emptied a 20-tonne skip of discarded cucumbers on Friday and thrown away about 5,000 boxes, worth around £15,000, over several days. Some were composted, others sent to landfill because they were already packaged.
The company produces 50,000 boxes a week and faces massive financial losses if consumer confidence is not restored.
Mr Sayer said: "The impact for us could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
"Until Thursday there hadn't really been much of an effect on supermarket sales. But since then the problem has really built up."
Another farmer, Joe Cappalonga, who grows three acres of cucumbers outside Slough and has also had to throw out a skip full of healthy vegetables, said: “I’m hearing demand from supermarkets for the coming week could be up to 30 per cent down, which is worrying. We’d have to throw out a lot more if that’s the case.”
Frank Pullara, who grows six acres of cucumbers and peppers in Essex, added: “A protracted downturn like this really could put us out of business.”
The British Cucumber Growers’ Association said that about one in six of the country’s 90 major producers were already likely to be discarding stock following the collapse in the wholesale market.
Wholesale traders at New Covent Garden Market, in London, said the price of 12 British cucumbers had fallen from around £4.50 a week ago to £2.50. on Friday. Tomatoes and peppers were down in price by around a third.
The slump has partly been caused by European suppliers flooding Britain with cheap unwanted cucumbers from the Netherlands, driving UK wholesale prices downwards.
Greengrocers said they were unable to sell salad vegetables despite slashing prices.
“Normally I would sell ten boxes of cucumbers a day but this week I’ve only sold one,” said Mula Teklay, 28, who runs Brixton Food, at Brixton Market, south London.
“I’ve been working here for ten years and I’ve never seen anything like it. The drop in trade has been incredible.
One woman who has survived the infection spoke on Saturday of her fight for life. Nicoletta Pabst, 31, a mother of three from Blankenese in Hamburg, spent a week in hospital.
"I suffered a terrible night of pain," she said. "There was blood in my waste again and I couldn`t eat anything. The next day an ambulance took me to a clinic in Altona.
"I had infusions. The stomach cramps were terrible for two more days. I lost my sense of time and space. I cried and I wailed. After three days I was given a course of antibiotics. Last weekend I finally began to feel better.
"It wasn`t until Wednesday this week that I was allowed home but I am not 100 per cent yet. But at least I am alive."
Researchers at the Robert Koch Institute say cases of illness began to spike after May 9, the day after the six-day festival closed.
Police in the city are also investigating two food wholesalers and a restaurant on suspicion of selling contaminated vegetables.
Officials were also probing a restaurant in Lübeck, 40 miles north-east of Hamburg.
The owner of the restaurant Joachim Berger said he was devastated to hear some of his customers after one person died and 17 others fell sick, including a party of tax officials, after apparently eating at his Kartoffel Keller (Potato Cellar).
The restaurant is not thought to be the source but could have been supplied with contaminated produce.
Mr Berger said: "It was like a blow to the head when I heard the news. We had everyone here tested and everything was disinfected. I paid for the tests myself because safety is important for our guests and employees."
Berger said health inspectors came to his restaurant last week but found nothing. More test results are due on Monday.
"We had a group of women here from the tax authorities and they ate à la carte," he said. "They enjoyed their meal. But the group was in town for quite a few days and also ate elsewhere.
"None of our employees is sick and they all eat salad and everything we have here."
The outbreak is being caused by a new strain of E. coli, among the deadliest in modern history.
Since the beginning of May, more than 1,800 cases have appeared across 12 European countries, while there have been 90 in the US. All seven cases in the UK have been in individuals who were recently in Germany.
Public health officials say the risk to people buying vegetables in the UK is very low, but have advised that all fresh produce is washed thoroughly.
Wholesalers traders in the UK said prices were half their normal level, while market stall holders said they were throwing away boxes of unsold vegetables. Morrisons supermarkets also reported a drop in sales.
Roger Sayer, managing director of Humber Growers, in East Yorkshire, said he had emptied a 20-tonne skip of discarded cucumbers on Friday and thrown away about 5,000 boxes, worth around £15,000, over several days. Some were composted, others sent to landfill because they were already packaged.
The company produces 50,000 boxes a week and faces massive financial losses if consumer confidence is not restored.
Mr Sayer said: "The impact for us could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
"Until Thursday there hadn't really been much of an effect on supermarket sales. But since then the problem has really built up."
Another farmer, Joe Cappalonga, who grows three acres of cucumbers outside Slough and has also had to throw out a skip full of healthy vegetables, said: “I’m hearing demand from supermarkets for the coming week could be up to 30 per cent down, which is worrying. We’d have to throw out a lot more if that’s the case.”
Frank Pullara, who grows six acres of cucumbers and peppers in Essex, added: “A protracted downturn like this really could put us out of business.”
The British Cucumber Growers’ Association said that about one in six of the country’s 90 major producers were already likely to be discarding stock following the collapse in the wholesale market.
Wholesale traders at New Covent Garden Market, in London, said the price of 12 British cucumbers had fallen from around £4.50 a week ago to £2.50. on Friday. Tomatoes and peppers were down in price by around a third.
The slump has partly been caused by European suppliers flooding Britain with cheap unwanted cucumbers from the Netherlands, driving UK wholesale prices downwards.
Greengrocers said they were unable to sell salad vegetables despite slashing prices.
“Normally I would sell ten boxes of cucumbers a day but this week I’ve only sold one,” said Mula Teklay, 28, who runs Brixton Food, at Brixton Market, south London.
“I’ve been working here for ten years and I’ve never seen anything like it. The drop in trade has been incredible.
One woman who has survived the infection spoke on Saturday of her fight for life. Nicoletta Pabst, 31, a mother of three from Blankenese in Hamburg, spent a week in hospital.
"I suffered a terrible night of pain," she said. "There was blood in my waste again and I couldn`t eat anything. The next day an ambulance took me to a clinic in Altona.
"I had infusions. The stomach cramps were terrible for two more days. I lost my sense of time and space. I cried and I wailed. After three days I was given a course of antibiotics. Last weekend I finally began to feel better.
"It wasn`t until Wednesday this week that I was allowed home but I am not 100 per cent yet. But at least I am alive."
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