A dispute erupted today over compensation payments to European farmers hit by tumbling sales during the deadly E. coli outbreak.

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.

Researchers have still not been able to pinpoint the cause of a food-borne bacterial outbreak that has hit Germany and other European countries, Germany’s health minister said today.

Spanish vegetables suspected of being contaminated with a potentially deadly bacteria are being recalled from shops in Austria and the Czech Republic to prevent the spread of a deadly outbreak.

German authorities have banned sales of eggs, poultry and pork from a further 934 farms amid new fears that livestock feed has been tainted with the cancer-causing chemical dioxin.

GERMANY’S agriculture minister is vowing tough legal action against those responsible for contaminating livestock feed with dioxin-laced fat.

A German minister has sharply criticised Facebook’s privacy policy and accuses the social networking site of breaching the law.

France has become the latest country to hold Google to account over a privacy breach that saw the search engine giant mistakenly gather and store data over public wi-fi networks in more than 30 countries.

AFTER nearly 40 years of relative prosperity in the EU, farmers are taking the Lisbon No campaign warning of tough times ahead for agriculture with a big pinch of salt.

DEMANDS from France and Germany that milk quotas be frozen or cut are expected to be rejected by the European Commission today.

THE European Commission has insisted that all member states publish details of recipients of CAP payments by today, as set out in EU law.

IRELAND will publish the list of beneficiaries of EU Common Agricultural Policy payments this week.

THE European Union is to re-activate subsidies for a series of dairy products to help struggling exporters compete better on the depressed world market.