Not killer cucumbers, but bean-sprouts

"Now it’s sprouts," headlines Die Welt following the announcement by Lower Saxony’s Agriculture Minister of a new leads in the investigation to determine the origin of deadly E.coli bacteria which has caused 22 deaths in Germany and made thousands ill across Europe. Eighteen species of bean-sprouts sourced in Germany, other European countries and Asia, which have been cultivated at a temperature of 37°C and distributed by a company in Lower Saxony, are strongly suspected to be the cause of the epidemic, explains the newspaper. In the absence of proof, the Federal Minister has remained cautious but nonetheless recommended that consumers refrain from eating bean-sprouts. In passing, the Berlin daily reports on a recent study conducted by several international experts for the Hygiene Council. According to the study, German food hygiene is not all that it should be: Germans wash their hands less often and for less time than other Europeans, the tea towels in their kitchens are fully-fledged "biological weapons," and finally – and most critically – the garbage sorting ethos, which has encouraged enthusiastic sorters to keep bins in their kitchens for up to a week, reduces the level of hygiene in German homes.