IN A surprising U-turn, German officials said initial tests published yesterday provided no evidence that sprouts from an organic farm in northern Germany were the cause of the country’s deadly E coli outbreak.

The source of Germany’s lethal food poisoning outbreak became a mystery again today after experts said there was no evidence linking it to beansprouts.

German investigators have found excessive levels of cancer-causing dioxin in chicken – the first such confirmation of tainted meat since the discovery that farm animals had eaten contaminated feed, possibly for months.