A trade spat erupted between the European Union and Russia on Thursday after Moscow banned imports of EU vegetables amid growing alarm over a deadly E. coli outbreak.

Gennady Onishchenko, the head of Russia’s consumer protection agency, told the Interfax news agency that the ban would begin immediately and customs officials had been alerted to block imports, particularly from Germany and Spain. “Fresh vegetables produced in these countries will be withdrawn from circulation on the territory of Russia,” Mr Onishchenko was quoted as saying. “I urge Russian citizens to renounce the use of imported vegetables in favour of domestic producers.”

Senior EU health officials immediately objected. In a strongly worded letter sent to Mr Onishchenko, and obtained by the Financial Times, the bloc’s senior health civil servant urged the Kremlin to withdraw the “unjustified restrictions” on EU products.