About a month and a half ago there was a bit of a panic throughout Europe concerning Spanish vegetables. In May, there was an outbreak of E.coli in Germany. Twenty-nine people died, and hundreds more were hospitalized. Doctors linked the outbreak to salads from a restaurant, which contained vegetables cultivated in various European countries, including cucumbers from Spain.
Up to this point, Germany had already been angry with Spain for bringing down the overall economy of the EU. Recent headlines had included quotes from the Chancellor of Germany claiming that the country of Spain didn't work enough and took too many national holidays. So when people were dying in Germany from an E.coli outbreak, she prematurely pointed her finger at Spain with no concrete evidence.
The result? Numerous countries started to block Spanish cucumber imports. Some countries even cancelled imports of all Spanish vegetables. Austria, Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Hungary...just to name a few. And so la crisis del pepino started.
Convinced that their cucumbers were safe, Spaniards insisted to buy their cucumbers. I'll have to admit that for a few weeks I was a little leery of buying pepinos during my weekly trip to Mercadona. But seeing that the only people who were affected by E.coli were those either in Germany or who had recently visited Germany and that there was no outbreak in Spain, I bought and ate my Spanish cucumbers along with the patriotic, proud, españoles. (But not without washing them well and joking that I was serving gazpacho with a side of E.coli for lunch.)
For the month to follow, the Spanish news and media were filled with Spaniards, especially political figures, spitefully biting into cucumbers during interviews. My favorite Spanish television show, a comedy/satirical/talk show-like program, El Hormiguero also had fun with this, having its entire crew sing into cucumbers as microphones. (See video below)
So after about a month of bitter tension between Spain and Germany, the final scientific conclusion: the Spanish pepinos were not to blame. Instead, scientists are now looking at the bean sprouts, cultivated in Germany, that garnished these deadly salads.
Now I'm no health analyst. But even a recent college grad who has taken only a basic 100-level nutrition class like me can tell you that bean sprouts will mostly likely be the prime suspect of any deadly salads. They're grown in warm and humid climates, ideal for bacterial growth. And because of all their little cracks and crevices, they're difficult to properly wash. Pregnant women are even told to avoid them. So I don't care if the health officials were German, Spanish, or Costa Rican--I can't believe they didn't check the bean sprouts first. Perhaps they did, but they were overshadowed by media-coverage.
Despite whomever is to blame, the consequences remain. A country with an unemployment rate already at 27%, Spain has now seen a major decrease in its exports. Many agriculture companies have had to let workers go. Some are even considering taken Germany to court, even though the EU has offered money for reparations. It's just another hurdle in Spain's economic crisis.
It's a shame to watch all of this happen. But to feel like I can help out with the situation, every time I go to my local Mercadona, I'm sure to buy tomatoes and pepinos.
The result? Numerous countries started to block Spanish cucumber imports. Some countries even cancelled imports of all Spanish vegetables. Austria, Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Hungary...just to name a few. And so la crisis del pepino started.
Convinced that their cucumbers were safe, Spaniards insisted to buy their cucumbers. I'll have to admit that for a few weeks I was a little leery of buying pepinos during my weekly trip to Mercadona. But seeing that the only people who were affected by E.coli were those either in Germany or who had recently visited Germany and that there was no outbreak in Spain, I bought and ate my Spanish cucumbers along with the patriotic, proud, españoles. (But not without washing them well and joking that I was serving gazpacho with a side of E.coli for lunch.)
For the month to follow, the Spanish news and media were filled with Spaniards, especially political figures, spitefully biting into cucumbers during interviews. My favorite Spanish television show, a comedy/satirical/talk show-like program, El Hormiguero also had fun with this, having its entire crew sing into cucumbers as microphones. (See video below)
So after about a month of bitter tension between Spain and Germany, the final scientific conclusion: the Spanish pepinos were not to blame. Instead, scientists are now looking at the bean sprouts, cultivated in Germany, that garnished these deadly salads.
Now I'm no health analyst. But even a recent college grad who has taken only a basic 100-level nutrition class like me can tell you that bean sprouts will mostly likely be the prime suspect of any deadly salads. They're grown in warm and humid climates, ideal for bacterial growth. And because of all their little cracks and crevices, they're difficult to properly wash. Pregnant women are even told to avoid them. So I don't care if the health officials were German, Spanish, or Costa Rican--I can't believe they didn't check the bean sprouts first. Perhaps they did, but they were overshadowed by media-coverage.
Despite whomever is to blame, the consequences remain. A country with an unemployment rate already at 27%, Spain has now seen a major decrease in its exports. Many agriculture companies have had to let workers go. Some are even considering taken Germany to court, even though the EU has offered money for reparations. It's just another hurdle in Spain's economic crisis.
It's a shame to watch all of this happen. But to feel like I can help out with the situation, every time I go to my local Mercadona, I'm sure to buy tomatoes and pepinos.
(Not to say that I agree with their line about certain nationalities sticking cucumbers up their "mojinos," but I thought this was a good illustration of how the Spanish reacted...and of typical Spanish television. )
You can read more about the crisis here:
2 comments:
Yeah this situation is very weird, first news start to pop up that there is some monstrous bacteria that kills people then countries start to ban imports of vegetables from EU(I live in Moscow, Russia has a ban). Then the cause is found and the bans remain. I really like spanish stuff and eu's. The source is found its in germany let other stuff back on shelves. Still no lift of the ban.
Yeah, it's funny what a little fear can do, whether it's corroborated or not. Thanks for in the input!
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