Youm7 has obtained a copy of the report prepared by Egypt's Ministry of Agriculture in response to European Union accusations that Egyptian fenugreek seeds were the source of the recent deadly outbreak of E. Coli. The EU sent a letter to its member states confirming that Egyptian fenugreek was not the main source of the recent E. Coli outbreak that has raised concerns across the world. The EU health commissioner reviewed the accusation against the Egyptian seeds and decided to ban the import of Egyptian seeds to member countries until Oct. 31. According to the report, a shipment of fenugreek seeds exported to the Netherlands in November 2009 had obtained an agricultural certificate confirming its safety during the loading process. The Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture's quarantine department said in its report, prepared July 4, that both Egyptian investigations and European documents proved the safety of Egypt's seeds. Additionally, Egypt has not recorded any cases of the outbreak. The report confirmed that Egyptian authorities inspected the exporting company and analyzed samples of the seeds, and the results were negative for E. Coli. German authorities reached the same conclusion after analyzing samples. The report underlined that the 16 countries that have recorded cases of the outbreak have not proved the outbreak is linked to the Egyptian fenugreek seeds. The report also said that Egypt's 2009 shipment to the Netherlands consisted of dry seeds, meaning the bacteria could not remain in the seeds. It added that there is no evidence to prove the EU's claims. “The EU's claims have not been supported scientifically,” concluded the report.
