[Flickr: oceandesetoiles]

By now you've no doubt heard about the E. Coli outbreak in Germany, whose confirmed source is organic vegetable sprouts from a farm in the northern part of the country. More than 3,000 people across several countries in the European Union have been diagnosed with the virulent strain of E.Coli, or with related kidney ailments.

The death toll as of Monday morning had reached 36. Germany has suffered by far the highest number of illness and casualties, but individuals in Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the U.K. were also affected.

As the disease began to spread in late May, German officials responded poorly. Haphazard research into the cause of the outbreak led to much confusion among farmers and consumers.

Initial tests did not implicate sprouts as a source of the E. Coli, so officials turned to other produce—particularly tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumbers from Spain—as the primary suspects.

Germany's initial reports to avoid Spanish vegetables resulted in a huge drop in exports for the country. Germany is Spain's biggest produce export market, and after the E. Coli warnings came out, German consumers immediately shunned any Spanish produce. The country's farmers were forced to destroy thousands of pounds of produce. Other farmers in the region also suffered a drop in exports of fresh summer vegetables.

To address the farmers' losses, the EU is compensating European farmers for produce they destroyed or left to rot in storehouses. The EU's current proposed repayments are over $300 million across the Union, but Spain alone is reporting nearly twice that amount in agricultural losses.

This situation is creating much tension among the European countries. The German government's response to the outbreak has been under much scrutiny, and subject to criticism from scientists, journalists, and doctors alike. British online paper the Daily Mail reported that British taxpayers would have to pay at least 135 million pounds to relieve stress on European farmers. The burden, says the Mail, is a "direct result of the German government's failure to get to grips with [the] crisis." This harsh sentiment has been echoed by many other affected countries.

Raw vegetables are often a source of E. Coli poisoning due to their uncooked nature—heat kills the bacteria, but washing with water does not always remove contaminants. As Marion Nestle explains, sprouts are a common source of food poisoning due to their small size and difficulty to clean. Seeds need to be bleached in order to effectively kill bacteria, and even after cleaning some germs still linger. Seeds are also sprouted in warm, moist environments—perfect for fostering growth of E. Coli and other nasty bacteria.

While the U.S. has suffered little in this particular run-in with E. Coli, the bacteria's destruction in Europe has become one of the world's worst E. Coli outbreaks. Germany and the EU must now repay farmers for their losses, and potentially face bigger questions about how to reform their food safety regulations and prevent another deadly outbreak.

About the Author: A student in Providence, Rhode Island, Leah Douglas loves learning about, talking about, reading about, and consuming food. Her work is also featured in Rhode Island Monthly magazine.