Germans target sprouts in E coli outbreak, clear other foods

German government officials lifted their recommendation against eating cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce, and showcased evidence that puts sprouts front and center in their investigation of a massive Escherichia coli outbreak, though the outbreak strain has not yet been found in sprouts. In a joint statement from Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, and the Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, the government said findings from early case-control studies were not specific, with one from a cafeteria showing only that enterohemorrhagic E coli (EHEC) infections were linked to eating food from the salad bar.  The earliest case-control studies did not ask specifically about sprouts, because too many potential exposures could lead to false positives, the government said. More extensive case-control studies did ask about sprouts, which were eaten by 30% in one study involving 54 patients and 25% in another study of 24 patients. Another study that matched...