EU to hold crisis talks on killer bacteria

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Breitbart:

European Union agriculture ministers were to hold emergency talks in Luxembourg Tuesday on the bacteria crisis that has left 23 dead, as the source of the outbreak remained elusive.

The European ministers will discuss aid for farmers who are unable to sell their vegetables due to growing consumer fears over the E. coli outbreak, and the sensitive issue could see acrimonious exchanges.

They will also review the bloc's food safety alert system to ensure that warnings have "scientific basis and proof" before becoming public, EU health commissioner John Dalli said.

Dalli said the alert system review was requested by Spain, where farmers were hit hard by inaccurate warnings that the outbreak might be linked to Spanish organic cucumbers.

Madrid has said it will demand full compensation from Germany for the losses which Spain's fruit and vegetables exporters association, FEPEX, estimated at 225 million euros ($328 million) per week since the crisis began.

"We have told Germany that it must reimburse us for the loss. If it covers 100 percent, which is what we are demanding, the affair will be closed. Otherwise we reserve the right (to take) legal action," Spanish Agriculture Minister Rosa Aguilar said on Monday.

"We are not going to allow our producers to lose one cent, because they are not to blame."
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Call me crazy, but I think European opposition to GM crops may have been partly responsible for this...