Frozen berries (strawberries, raspberries and blueberries) marketed by an Australian brand but picked and packaged in China are the cause of 9 cases of hepatitis A in Australia. The company was quick to recall all the implicated products on Monday, and even other similar products as a precaution.
“These berries were packed in a country where thehepatitis A is endemic. There is evidence that the contamination must have occurred during the packaging of the product, ”lamented Dr. Finn Romanes, from the Victoria Department of Health in Australia, during an interview on ABC public radio.
Hepatitis A is a viral disease of the liver, which is usually caught by contaminated food or water. It causes great fatigue, yellowing of the skin and mucous membranes, fever, headache, weight loss, diarrhea or even vomiting.
And since the incubation period is 14 to 28 weeks, the patient may have contracted the hepatitis A virus and be contagious without knowing it. Australian health authorities therefore warned that there was “a risk that other people would be infected with hepatitis A and report the disease in the weeks to come”.
“We apologize to consumers and customers for the concern and anguish caused,” said the responsible company (Patties Foods Ltd.).
China’s health scandals brought to light
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hepatitis A “is spread mainly when an uninfected person ingests water or food contaminated with the feces of an infected person”. It is linked to the lack of drinking water and poor hygienic conditions.
This accidental contamination brings to light the health scandals of China, with which Australia signed a free trade agreement last November.
In 2008, milk contaminated with melamine, a compound toxic to the kidneys, killed six babies in China, and sickened more than 300,000 infants. More recently in 2012, around 10,000 German schoolchildren were victims of food poisoning after a meal in a school canteen. This time, it was the frozen strawberries of Chinese origin that had been incriminated.
Australian Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has expressed “deep concern” about the labeling and origin of products arriving in Australia, without announcing any measure to improve it.
Read also :
Hepatitis: progress to be made on screening and vaccination
STIs: what are the risks of transmission according to sexual practices?
Unusual: Chinese chopsticks to detect spoiled food
