Europe lifts ban on Egyptian peas and beans

The European Commission (EC) has lifted the import ban on fresh and chilled peas and beans from Egypt, which was imposed following the deadly E coli outbreaks in Europe earlier this year.

The EC said the ban was lifted after the risk from the products was reassessed following an audit of production sites in Egypt.

The UK Food Standards Agency has written to port health officials to inform them of these changes.

In July, the EC imposed an emergency ban on fenugreek and certain seeds, sprouted seeds and beans imported from Egypt until 31 October 2011, following the two outbreaks of E coli O104 in Germany and France.

The ban was introduced after the European Food Safety Authority’s report, which linked a batch of fenugreek seeds originally supplied from a company in Egypt to the two E coli outbreaks in Europe.