EC: Conditions not met to aid Romanian dairy farmers after E. coli outbreak
The Romanian authorities reported an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) infection in March affecting mostly young children, through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) portal.
As of April, 25 cases were identified, of which 19 developed HUS and three died. FQN contacted the ECDC who were unable to provide an update for this article. They told us to contact the Ministry of Health in Romania who did not respond before publication.
The authorities said there was a voluntary withdrawal of suspected dairy products from Lactate Bradet, which were also sold to Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain.
The precise source of contamination was not identified since different products tested positive for STEC.
Later in March, Italy reported one case in a child who ate a soft cheese produced by the same company in Romania.
According to Italian authorities and the joint European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control outbreak assessment in April, the epidemiological evidence linking some of the Romanian cases and the Italian case to the Romanian operator, as well as microbiological findings, were consistent.
Dairy exports ‘severely affected’
In a question to the Commission, Daniel Buda of the Partidul Naţional Liberal in Romania expressed concern about exports being affected.
“Romanian dairy exports to the EU have been severely affected by a false alert issued by the Italian authorities at European level regarding the suspected presence of E. coli bacteria in Romanian cheese, the apparent purpose behind the accusations being the removal from the market of Romanian cheese products.
“The warning, which related specifically to sheep-milk cheese, directly affecting Romanian farmers and dairy exports in general, was subsequently retracted by the Italian authorities, who acknowledged that they have issued it without a final analysis report.
“The fact remains that the false alert issued by Italian authorities could mean ruin for a number of Romanian farmers and undermine[s] the reputation of certain traditional Romanian products.”
Buda asked what the Commission can do to assist farmers directly affected and prevent any recurrence of such a situation.
Commission response and background
Vytenis Andriukaitis, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, answering on behalf of the Commission said conditions to take action have not been met.
“Article 220 of the common market Organisation Regulation provides that, at the request of the Member State concerned, exceptional support measures may be taken in order to take account of restrictions on intra-Union and third-country trade which may result from…serious market disturbances directly attributed to a loss in consumer confidence due to public, animal or plant health and disease risks. Those conditions are not met at this point.”
The Romanian operator exported dairy products to Germany (1,410kg), Italy (6,517kg), Spain (10,385kg) and Belgium (1,108kg) during February 2016.
It initiated the voluntary withdrawal of dairy products produced in February and at national level 20,363.87kg were withdrawn from six Romanian districts and destroyed.
The retailer in Tuscany where the family reported having purchased the cheese (a shop selling products from Romania), had been supplied by one importing Italian wholesaler.
