Egyptian Fenugreek Seeds Now Blamed for Deadly E. Coli Outbreak

Seeds of fenugreek sprouts lay on a scanner in Hanover, Germany, 14 June 2011.

Contaminated fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt are the newest top suspect for the origin of the devastating e. coli outbreak that has killed almost 50 people in Europe.

The seeds seemed to have entered Europe through a single German importer, which acted as a distributor to other companies, officials said, as cited by The New York Times.

However, the European Food Safety Authority has pointed out that "there is still much uncertainty about whether this is truly the common cause of the infections."

So far investigators have not found a sprout connection to a Swedish E coli O104:H4 case, in which the patient did not have a history of traveling to Germany.

The German authorities had concluded the outbreak was caused by contaminated sprouts produced by a grower in northern Germany.

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