German beansprouts are the likely cause of the E.coli outbreak that has killed 22 people in Europe, German officials have said.

THE number of people hit by a massive European outbreak of food borne bacterial infections is a third bigger than previously known and a stunningly high number of patients suffer from a potentially deadly complication than can shut down their kidneys, officials said yesterday.

The number of people reported sick in Germany from a foodborne bacterial outbreak that has already killed 16 spiked over the last 24 hours, with nearly 100 more people suffering from severe and potentially fatal symptoms, the national disease control centre said today.

GERMANY has warned that the source of an outbreak of bacteria poisoning blamed for 10 deaths and hundreds of people falling ill, some in other countries, has yet to be pinpointed.