How berries get from the country of origin to your kitchen.
More people are presenting with hepatitis A and the list of recalled frozen berry products also continues to grow, as suppliers narrow their focus on raspberries as the prime cause of the outbreak.
Investigations through our supply chain have identified a specific source of raspberries as a potential common link to the possible safety issues raised by health authorities.
Patties Foods managing director Steven Chaur
Politicians and lawyers have started to weigh in on the health scare, with Australia’s labelling legislation and the rights of the people infected by the virus coming under scrutiny.
Nanna’s frozen berries have been sent to the United States and Italy to test if raspberries may be the cause of the hepatitis A virus outbreak. Photo: Getty Images
Raspberries appear to be a potential common link in the imported fruit contamination that has left 10 people diagnosed with hepatitis A.
Victorian company Patties Foods extended its national recall to include Nanna’s Raspberries 1kg packs on Tuesday.
Managing director Steven Chaur says the raspberry supplier is no longer used by the company and the recall is a precautionary measure.
Hepatitis A – what you need to know.
“Investigations through our supply chain have identified a specific source of raspberries as a potential common link to the possible safety issues raised by health authorities,” he said.
Other products on the nationwide recall list are Nanna’s Frozen Mixed Berries 1kg packs, and 300g and 500g packs of Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries.
Compensation lawyer Mark O’Connor said consumers should ignore advice to throw out any berries they had purchased, because the product could become key evidence should they contract the virus.
He said people should keep them, but mark the packet with the note “poison” so they’re not consumed.
“If they become ill later on, then they will need to be able to prove that they have consumed the product in question and my experience with insurance companies is they won’t take your word for it,” he said.
A Victorian health department spokesman said there would likely be more cases of the virus coming forward as people learned about the symptoms.
“Given the very broad spread of this product, its popularity and its very long shelf life, it’s not unexpected that we will get other cases,” he said.
Five people have tested positive to hepatitis A in Queensland, along with three from Victoria and two from NSW.
Federal MP Bob Katter said they should sue the federal government, and also vowed to move legislation designed to mandate stricter national labelling standards.
He said infected Australians had a right to be angry after a previous attempt to introduce labelling laws fell flat.
“I think they should be suing the individual ministers who had the proposition put before them and ignored the proposition,” he said.
“So they have had flagrant breach of their duty of care and to me they are liable legally.”
Independent senator Nick Xenophon called for an independent review of Australia’s imported food safety regime.
Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said the government was working on improvements to country of origin labelling, but it may also review testing procedures and health protocols.
“At the lowest level we are looking for residues such as cadmium but we don’t look for hep A,” he said.
“If the thresholds need to be lowered so more (imported food) is examined then we will do that.”
Hepatitis A typically poses a very low risk to the blood supply, but blood donors who ate berries linked to the infection have also been banned from donating for two months.
Those who have already donated after eating the berries are asked to contact the Red Cross Blood Service, so risks can be identified.
Hepatitis A is a viral disease that affects the liver, with symptoms including abdominal pain, nausea, fatigue and jaundice.
It has an incubation period of up to 50 days.
AAP