Germany offers EU aid to Spanish farmers after E. coli rumor

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is sorry for her administration's erroneous allegations that Spanish farmers caused the recent outbreak in E. coli bacteria.

And she's putting the European Union's money where her staff's mouths are.

Merkel has agreed to advocate for EU financial assistance for Spanish farmers. After German officials raised concern about Spanish cucumbers causing the outbreak, several countries imposed import bans on Spanish produce. Export income figures dropped drastically.

Spanish farming group Agricultural Cooperatives says that if the import bans aren't lifted, the industry could stand to lose up to $287 million, endangering 70,000 jobs, largely located in economically disadvantaged Andalusia, in Spain's South.

The World Health Organization calls the strain of the E. coli rare and severe and indicates that it has infected well over 1,600 people in 11 countries and 18 have died.