French Kids Ill After Eating 'E.coli Burgers'

Five children are in a serious condition in France with E.coli infections after eating meat infected with the bacteria.

However, officials said the outbreak did not appear to be related to the deadly strain which has killed 37 people and made 3,000 ill, mostly in northern Germany.

The children had eaten beefburgers made by French company SEB which said the meat was taken from animals slaughtered in three European countries and processed in France.

"There's meat from Germany, there's meat from Belgium and from Holland," said SEB chief executive Guy Lamorlette.

Six children, aged between 20 months and eight years old, were taken to a hospital in Lille, northern France on Wednesday and one was later released.

Three are being treated with hemodialysis, a method of removing waste products from the blood after kidney failure.

A spokesman for the Regional Health Agency (ARS) said: "They are in a serious but not worrying state. Their lives are not at all in danger."

The "Steak Country" burgers were bought in French branches of German supermarket Lidl.

SEB has recalled the burgers and Lidl said it had removed boxes from its shelves in France.

The outbreak comes on the heels of E.coli cases linked to contaminated bean sprouts which has killed 36 people in Germany and one in Sweden.