At the height of last year's Ebola outbreak, www.freshfruitportal.com heard some produce consignments were turned away by U.S. authorities for simply being African, even if that meant the fruit came from thousands of miles away from where the disease was present; in other words, further away than Europe.

2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa - Outbreak Distribution Map

But a recent determination from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) shows such moves may have been misguided even if the produce had come from Ebola-infested countries like Sierra Leone or Liberia.

An EFSA report published yesterday said there was no evidence the Ebola virus could be transmitted through food in the European Union.

"The report published today assesses the risk of Ebola transmission from the consumption of raw foods – such as plants, fruits and vegetables – legally imported into the EU from African countries," the EFSA said in a release.

"To date there have been no reported human cases of Ebola infection from the consumption of these foods.

"For the virus to be transmitted though food, several steps are necessary; none of these has ever been reported."

For such an event to occur, the exported food would need to be contaminated at the point of origin, the food would need to contain a viable virus when it arrives in the EU, and a person would have to be infected following foodborne exposure.

"In their risk assessment, EFSA experts identify several knowledge and data gaps – for example for how long the virus could survive in food," the release said.

"This report has been developed by EFSA scientists and external experts, including two from the World Health Organization."

Outbreaks of Zaire Ebola virus disease have been reported in nine countries so far – Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Senegal. All these countries can export fruits and vegetables into the EU, with the exception of potatoes.

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