Thirty one people in Europe recently died from contamination of  bean sprouts by E coli, many more were sickened. The sprouts were grown on an organic farm in Bienenbüttel south of Hamburg  in Germany. The strain that causes problems is E. coli O157:H7. This variant of the bacteria produces a toxin that causes the hemolytic-uremic syndrome a disorder closely related to thrombotic thombocytic purpura. The manifestations of this disease range from mild to lethal. E coli which is found in feces is more likely to contaminate food grown on organic farms than on that originating from farms that use artificial fertilizers.

The reaction of the German government has been interesting. They closed the offending farm, but they did not shutter organic farms in general. They did, however, announce that all German nuclear reactors would be closed by 2022. How many people have died from German nuclear accidents? None.