More than 270 people in Germany are seriously ill due to deadly bacteria detected in imported Spanish cucumbers. Two people have died.
Organic cucumbers from Spain have been identified as a source of the bacteria that has also led to food poisoning in Sweden, Denmark, Britain and the Netherlands.
The Robert Koch Institute said more than 60 new cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome had been reported in the past 24 hours,
But Spain's agriculture minister, Rosa Aguilar, says it too early to blame her country and the accusations have caused ''irreparable damage''.
Russia is considering an import ban on all German vegetables in the wake of the outbreak.
Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli causes HUS, which can result in acute renal failure, seizures, strokes and coma.
