So where did this Hepatitis A virus come from?
Following is the latest media release from the NSW Food Authority;
15 February 2015
NSW Food Authority advises:
Patties Foods Ltd has recalled its Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries, sold nationally in Coles, Woolworths & IGA supermarkets and independent stores.
This is a precautionary extension of the recall of Nanna’s Mixed Berries, due to potential contamination with Hepatitis A.
Product details are:
- Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries, 300g, frozen in plastic bag, all batches up to and including ‘Best Before’ 10 12 17
- Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries, 500g, frozen in plastic bag, all batches to and including ‘Best Before’ 06 10 17
Consumers should not consume this product.
Hepatitis A virus can cause inflammation or swelling of the liver. Symptoms include feeling unwell, aches & pains, fever, nausea, lack of appetite, abdominal discomfort, followed by dark urine, pale stools and jaundice (yellowing of the eyeballs & skin). Symptoms usually appear 4 weeks after infection, but onset can range from 2 to 7 weeks.
Anyone concerned about their health should seek medical advice.
Consumers can return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund.
For further information, telephone Patties Foods on 1800 650 069.
The following is the Hepatitis A Fact Sheet from the NSW Food Authority website;
What is hepatitis A?
‘Hepatitis’ means inflammation or swelling of the liver. It can be caused by chemicals or drugs, or by different kinds of viral infections. One common cause of infectious hepatitis is hepatitis A virus. Infection with one type of hepatitis virus does NOT give protection against infection with other hepatitis viruses.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms include feeling unwell, aches and pains, fever, nausea, lack of appetite, abdominal discomfort, followed by dark urine, pale stools and jaundice (yellowing of the eyeballs and skin). Illness usually lasts one to three weeks (although some symptoms can last longer) and is almost always followed by complete recovery. Small children who become infected usually have no symptoms. Hepatitis A does NOT cause long-term liver disease and deaths caused by hepatitis A are rare. The period between contact with the virus to the development of symptoms is usually four weeks, but can range from two to seven weeks.
How is it spread?
Infected people can pass on the virus to others from two weeks before the development of symptoms until one week after the appearance of jaundice (about three weeks in total). Large amounts of the virus are found in faeces (stools) of an infectious person during the infectious period. The virus can survive in the environment for several weeks in the right conditions (for example, in sewage). Hepatitis A is usually transmitted when virus from an infected person is swallowed by another person through:
- eating contaminated food
- drinking contaminated water
- handling nappies, linen and towels soiled with the faeces of an infectious person
- direct contact (including sexual) with an infectious person.
Reported outbreaks of hepatitis A have been traced to:
- person-to-person spread, including among men who have sex with men
- drinking water contaminated with sewage
- eating food that has been contaminated with sewage such as shellfish
- eating food contaminated by an infectious food handler.
Infection with hepatitis A continues to be a problem for people travelling overseas, especially people visiting developing countries where hepatitis A is common.
Who is at risk?
Those who have not had hepatitis A and who have not been vaccinated against it are at risk of catching the disease.
How is it prevented?
People infected with hepatitis A should not attend work, school or childcare until they are no longer infectious which is at least seven days after the onset of jaundice.
Vaccination
A safe and effective vaccine is available against hepatitis A. The vaccine may take up to two weeks to provide protection. Vaccination is recommended for the following higher risk groups of people:
- travellers to countries where hepatitis A is common (most developing countries)
- frequent visitors to rural and remote indigenous communities
- men who have sex with men
- child day-care and pre-school workers
- the intellectually disabled and their carers
- some health care workers who work in or with indigenous communities
- sewerage workers
- plumbers
- injecting drug users
- patients with chronic liver disease
- people with haemophilia who may receive pooled plasma concentrates.
What else can be done to avoid hepatitis A?
Everyone should always wash their hands thoroughly with soap and running water for at least 10 seconds and dry them with a clean towel:
- after going to the toilet
- before eating
- before preparing food or drink
- after handling objects such as nappies and condoms.
What can be done to avoid infecting others?
If you have hepatitis A, as well as washing your hands thoroughly, you should avoid the following activities while infectious (that is, until at least one week after onset of jaundice):
- do NOT prepare food or drink for other people
- do NOT share eating or drinking utensils with other people
- do NOT share linen and towels with other people
- abstain from sex
- wash eating utensils in soapy water, and machine wash linen and towels.
How is it diagnosed?
Diagnosis is based on the patient’s symptoms and confirmed by a blood test showing IgM antibodies to hepatitis A.
How is it treated?
There is no specific treatment for hepatitis A. Household contacts and sexual partners of an infectious person usually need an injection of hepatitis A vaccine or immunoglobulin. These injections may prevent or reduce illness if given within two weeks of contact with the infectious person.
What is the public health response?
- Doctors, hospitals and laboratories must confidentially notify cases of hepatitis A infection to the local Public Health Unit.
- Public Health Unit staff will work with the doctor, the patient or the patient’s family to identify close contacts at risk of infection and arrange for those at risk to receive information about the disease. Public Health Unit staff follow special guidelines for managing cases of hepatitis A in people who attend or work at a child care centre, and in people who handle food for sale.
- Public Health Unit staff also investigate outbreaks of hepatitis A to identify the cause of the outbreak, control its spread and prevent further infections.
These berries were grown in both China and Chile and then packed in China and imported into Australia.
The main food related cause of Hepatitis A is faecal matter on the food, entering a person’s digestive tract. Therefore it can be assumed that either the berries from Chile or from China or both contained faecal matter and as this product is not heated the virus is not killed and people can get Hepatitis A when they consume the product.
This obviously raises a few big questions;
- How did the faecal matter get into the berries?
- How did the contaminated berries get into the product anyway?
- How was this contaminated product even allowed to get into Australia?
- AND THE BIG ONE – what can be done to ensure that all imported food is safe for consumption – including these berries?
The answer to the big question is not easy nor is it cheap. Testing of all imported food will mean that product such as these berries will not make it into our food chain. However, testing of every batch of imported food is not logical as it would be cost prohibitive and involve intense labour by government staff. So that is not going to happen.
What can be done instead?
All importers are required to ensure that the food being imported into this country meet the requirements of the Food Standards Code, including the absence of Hepatitis A. there has obviously been a problem during the growth, harvesting or packing of these berries which has resulted in contamination of them.
It is the responsibility of all manufacturers, whether they be in Australia or elsewhere, to ensure that the food they are making is safe for consumption and this includes making sure that the raw materials are safe also.
This recall is going to have long term implications as the public realise the implications of it – food has been grown and packed overseas and then imported into this country and Australians have become sick. It is the nightmare that many have been talking about when companies move sourcing, manufacturing or packing overseas.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this in the immediate and long term.
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.