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14:43 GMT
BRUSSELS, June 11 (KUNA) -- The European Commission in a statement Saturday noted that an announcement made this afternoon by the German authorities confirms the fact that various types of sprouts produced by one farm south of the city of Hamburg are responsible for the E. coli outbreak in Germany.
"I welcome this extremely important development: the source of contamination is now identified and the epidemiological findings are backed by laboratory results. EU consumers and trade partners shall now have full confidence as regards the safety of EU's vegetables," said John Dalli EU Health Commissioner in a statement.
He said epidemiological investigations will continue in order to complete the picture of the links between people who fell ill, food establishments and the farm in Germany In the next few days investigations will also focus on how the specific E. coli strain got into the food chain.
Meanwhile, the EU's executive body said its services have been working hard to implement the political agreement reached yesterday at the Russia-EU summit provided for the lifting of the Russian ban on EU vegetable imports and the introduction of a certification system.
Given today's new development, the Commission is now looking forward to a swift examination of this proposal by the Russian authorities so that exports of EU products shall resume as soon as possible, said Dalli.
E.Coli bacteria so far has claimed 33 lives mainly in Germany and infected 2000 people in Europe. (end) nk.ajs KUNA 111743 Jun 11NNNN