Hepatitis A warning issued on frozen berries sold here.

_Whimsical_

It was on the news today that there is a Hepatitis A warning on frozen berries on sale here that have been imported...that seems to be all of them. 5 people have contracted it in Ireland so far. We are being advised to boil the berries for at least one minute before consuming them.

I have a freezer full of them...there goes the convenient,affordable summer health kick. Just thought I'd post it seeing as I remember there being lots of frozen berry enthusiasts here.

http://www.fsai.ie/news_centre/press_releases/Hepatitis_A_outbreak_frozen_berries_190713.html

_Whimsical_

Am I right in thinking that berries won't retain their nutrition value after boiling?

statto25

I usually throw them into Porridge and then shove them into microwave. I wonder is that enough to continue eating them?

brownej

According to the IT (and the link in the OP to the FSAI notice) it's not just Ireland

"An outbreak of Hepatitis A in Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland has also been linked to the consumption of frozen fruit, but the strain of the virus in Scandinavia is different to that identified in Ireland and Italy."

While obviously its not going to be all frozen fruit that's affected, it is still worrying.

IsaacWunder

Although this outbreak has been announced in other EU countries, the fact that the UK's food safety authority hasn't (yet?) announced a similar warning is presumably a sign that British supermarket chains' berries are safe to eat.

jayz, we eat loads of them

_Whimsical_

IsaacWunder wrote: »

Although this outbreak has been announced in other EU countries, the fact that the UK's food safety authority hasn't (yet?) announced a similar warning is presumably a sign that British supermarket chains' berries are safe to eat.

I wouldn't think it's safe to presume that at all. The UK have lots of Aldi and Lidl stores.If they were on the ball with the warnings they'd at least have issued one with respect to non British stores as this is a serious public health issue.It's not a mild condition. Also unlikely that if the same suppliers supply Ireland, Italy and wider Europe that no UK based stores at all would be affected. The source has not been found at this stage so I don't they have info we don't right now.

El_Dangeroso

bluewolf wrote: »

jayz, we eat loads of them

Eep! me too, I have been making summer whey shakes with frozen blueberries as a quick brekkie. I have been vaccinated against hep A and C though since travelling in Asia.

doctorwhogirl

Crappola.

Ate a mountain of them today....a daily occurrence!

El_Dangeroso

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Eep! me too, I have been making summer whey shakes with frozen blueberries as a quick brekkie. I have been vaccinated against hep A and C though since travelling in Asia.

Bingo
That and flaxseed, tasty smoothies

_Whimsical_

Glad I'm not alone then,I have them every day .

doctorwhogirl

If I don't post for a few days send for help! :-(

IsaacWunder

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

I wouldn't think it's safe to presume that at all. The UK have lots of Aldi and Lidl stores.If they were on the ball with the warnings they'd at least have issued one with respect to non British stores as this is a serious public health issue.It's not a mild condition. Also unlikely that if the same suppliers supply Ireland, Italy and wider Europe that no UK based stores at all would be affected. The source has not been found at this stage so I don't they have info we don't right now.

I'm wondering about own brands in Tesco and Marks and Sparks more than Lidl and Aldi. Other British multiples that operate in Ireland also.

_Whimsical_

IsaacWunder wrote: »

I'm wondering about own brands in Tesco and Marks and Sparks more than Lidl and Aldi. Other British multiples that operate in Ireland also.

I know, but given that the source is not clear I don't think it would be safe to assume at this point that UK supermarket produce are ok.The UK don't seem to have issued any alert at all. Id think that there'll be a statement from Tesco or MS if they can say without doubt their berries are ok.

Seems that 81 contracted Hepatitis A from frozen berries in the US in June. They think the source was berries imported from Turkey.

MicraBoy

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Eep! me too, I have been making summer whey shakes with frozen blueberries as a quick brekkie. I have been vaccinated against hep A and C though since travelling in Asia.

Lol oh yeah just remembered I'm vaccinated.

_Whimsical_

Depressing update on this from the EU Centre for Disease Control. 448 people sick in Italy and it may be up to 2 years before the infected berries are cleared from supermarkets.
Maybe we all need vaccines to partake of the healthy life!
Hope they find the source soon and someone says what is safe to eat.

Because different frozen berry products were sold here it was not possible to withdraw products from shops, Prof Reilly said. “If we had the same products on the market we would have already withdrawn them.” More cases of the illness were expected given the long shelf-life of up to two years of frozen berries, said the European Centre for Disease Control.

Mason Storm

This explains why Dunnes have been selling 2 bags of frozen berries for €3 the last few weeks, those rascals.

Duzzie

FFS you cannot eat anything these days, it is scary the number of food related warnings in the past few years. I think most of the berries that I have in the freezer are ones that were bought fresh, which i then froze. The blueberries are going in the bin though. Are there any reports of which shop/chain they were from?

_Whimsical_

Duzzie wrote: »

FFS you cannot eat anything these days, it is scary the number of food related warnings in the past few years. I think most of the berries that I have in the freezer are ones that were bought fresh, which i then froze. The blueberries are going in the bin though. Are there any reports of which shop/chain they were from?

If you bought them fresh they are fine, it's only frozen berries that are affected. No reports on which shops are affected, they have no idea where the source of the outbreak is so it seems no one knows.

boogle

I find it worrying that they do not know where these foods have come from. That smacks of very irresponsible sourcing and retail practice from these supermarkets.

El_Dangeroso

boogle wrote: »

I find it worrying that they do not know where these foods have come from. That smacks of very irresponsible sourcing and retail practice from these supermarkets.

I'm normally a little vigilant about where my meat comes from. Didn't think I had to be so vigilant when it comes to fruit!

Mariol

Weird how Tesco/Dunnes haven't said anything, or is that normal?

Table Top Joe

Im a big frozen fruit fan, cant believe even this isn't safe now! I have fruit from Boylans I bought in Tesco, an Irish company....but are they actually Irish berries or is this one of those marketing things, you know packed in Ireland or some rubbish does anyone know?, cant find out anything about them online

j@utis

those berries are more than likely imported. I like frozen fruit too and eat quite a lot of it, esp blueberries. I believe these are better than "fresh" berries that were picked half ripe two weeks ago somewhere 10,000miles away. and I don't care about this warning blah, frozen blueberries with coconut cream for desert tonight, deeeelish!

Mason Storm

j@utis wrote: »

those berries are more than likely imported. I like frozen fruit too and eat quite a lot of it, esp blueberries. I believe these are better than "fresh" berries that were picked half ripe two weeks ago somewhere 10,000miles away. and I don't care about this warning blah, frozen blueberries with coconut cream for desert tonight, deeeelish!

Don't do it!

IsaacWunder

Mason Storm wrote: »

Don't do it!

They're perfectly safe if you boil them.

Mariol

But would boiling them lower the nutritional value of them? Plus they wouldn't be frozen then :P

tunguska

j@utis wrote: »

those berries are more than likely imported. I like frozen fruit too and eat quite a lot of it, esp blueberries. I believe these are better than "fresh" berries that were picked half ripe two weeks ago somewhere 10,000miles away. and I don't care about this warning blah, frozen blueberries with coconut cream for desert tonight, deeeelish!

Ditto. Have frozen blueberries every day in a smoothie. I'll take my chances, definitley not gonna boil them as that would destroy the nutritional value.

thegreatiam

tunguska wrote: »

Ditto. Have frozen blueberries every day in a smoothie. I'll take my chances, definitley not gonna boil them as that would destroy the nutritional value.

vomiting them up for 2 weeks would probably also have an impact on their nutritional value. Just sayin'

tunguska

thegreatiam wrote: »

vomiting them up for 2 weeks would probably also have an impact on their nutritional value. Just sayin'

If it happens it happens, I accept the risks.

thegreatiam

tunguska wrote: »

If it happens it happens, I accept the risks.

seems a bit of a major risk for a minor inconvenience.
frozen fruit is known to have higher vitamins than fresh, but boiling will reduce it by around 30%. but get rid of a potentially debilitating illness.
So all you are really doing is putting your frozen fruit to the sameish levels as fresh fruit for a while. but removing the risk.

Boiling it wont eliminate all the vitamins, and some wont even be that affected. Im sure you have a balanced diet, so you probably dont even really need the vitamins.

You're taking a risk of being sick for 2 weeks to get an extra 30% of vitamin A from a handful of blueberries. what does that equate to? less than 10% of RDA?

I can think of better risks to be taking, but it's your health, you decide.

Duzzie

thegreatiam wrote: »

seems a bit of a major risk for a minor inconvenience.
frozen fruit is known to have higher vitamins than fresh, but boiling will reduce it by around 30%. but get rid of a potentially debilitating illness.
So all you are really doing is putting your frozen fruit to the sameish levels as fresh fruit for a while. but removing the risk.

Boiling it wont eliminate all the vitamins, and some wont even be that affected. Im sure you have a balanced diet, so you probably dont even really need the vitamins.

You're taking a risk of being sick for 2 weeks to get an extra 30% of vitamin A from a handful of blueberries. what does that equate to? less than 10% of RDA?

I can think of better risks to be taking, but it's your health, you decide.

Why is the vitimin content higher in frozen? Because the vitamin decreases over time in the fresh but is preserved in the frozen?

thegreatiam

Duzzie wrote: »

Why is the vitimin content higher in frozen? Because the vitamin decreases over time in the fresh but is preserved in the frozen?

frozen at source or within a few hours as opposed to picked before they are ripe and transported from source to warehouse to shop eventually to consumer

tunguska

thegreatiam wrote: »

seems a bit of a major risk for a minor inconvenience.
frozen fruit is known to have higher vitamins than fresh, but boiling will reduce it by around 30%. but get rid of a potentially debilitating illness.
So all you are really doing is putting your frozen fruit to the sameish levels as fresh fruit for a while. but removing the risk.

Boiling it wont eliminate all the vitamins, and some wont even be that affected. Im sure you have a balanced diet, so you probably dont even really need the vitamins.

You're taking a risk of being sick for 2 weeks to get an extra 30% of vitamin A from a handful of blueberries. what does that equate to? less than 10% of RDA?

I can think of better risks to be taking, but it's your health, you decide.

You've convinced me. I'll boil the blueberries so.......

thegreatiam

tunguska wrote: »

You've convinced me. I'll boil the blueberries so.......

im stil in 2 minds to boil mine or throw them out.

Mason Storm

Boil them and refreeze them after. Taste better that way.

thegreatiam

Mason Storm wrote: »

Boil them and refreeze them after. Taste better that way.

taste squishier

Most of them were intended for adding to yoghurt/icecream anyway, so would most likely be fine.

El_Dangeroso

Mason Storm wrote: »

Boil them and refreeze them after. Taste better that way.

DON'T DO THIS!! You should never re-freeze food, that is how bacterial spores form which are very nasty bugs indeed!

thegreatiam

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

DON'T DO THIS!! You should never re-freeze food, that is how bacterial spores form which are very nasty bugs indeed!

only if its in certain temperature ranges for a time, above 5 degrees c. frozen to boiling to back to frozen should be fine.

fruit will also be ok because it takes longer to ferment. As long as there is no growths on it(which frozen fruit shouldn't have)

40f is 4.5c
http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/frozen_food.html

Seaneh

I'm really disturbed that I'm only hearing this today and the press release was almost a week ago!

We've been eating a lot of frozen berries in my house between making cocktails for garden parties, making deserts and smoothies and just munching as cold treats when we wanted something sweet. Won't be taking that rick again!

Seaneh

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

DON'T DO THIS!! You should never re-freeze food, that is how bacterial spores form which are very nasty bugs indeed!

Once you reach a temperature of 72c, it's fine, that will kill pretty much everything.

Most food in freezer sections of supermarket is cooked and then flash chilled.

El_Dangeroso

thegreatiam wrote: »

only if its in certain temperature ranges for a time, above 5 degrees c. frozen to boiling to back to frozen should be fine.

fruit will also be ok because it takes longer to ferment. As long as there is no growths on it(which frozen fruit shouldn't have)

40f is 4.5c
http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/frozen_food.html

Fermenting doesn't affect whether spores form or not. It's a small risk sure but not worth it in my opinion. Besides the texture at that stage would be very iffy.

Seaneh wrote: »

Once you reach a temperature of 72c, it's fine, that will kill pretty much everything.

Most food in freezer sections of supermarket is cooked and then flash chilled.

Cooking then freezing is fine, it's the freezing, then cooking then freezing again that might cause an issue. Bacterial spores are not destroyed by heat.

thegreatiam

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Fermenting doesn't affect whether spores form or not. It's a small risk sure but not worth it in my opinion. Besides the texture at that stage would be very iffy.



Cooking then freezing is fine, it's the freezing, then cooking then freezing again that might cause an issue. Bacterial spores are not destroyed by heat.

Im finding no mention of this as a risk for frozen fruit.
Every where I look it states:
Keep food out of the temp range of 5c - 60c.
Bacteria grows while thawing.

So if it goes from frozen, to boiled, to frozen then its fine. as it will destroy the Hep a. No mention of bacterial spores.
the only apparent risk from defrosted fruit is if it gets above 5c and/or has mold or has began to ferment.

Can you link me something about where you are getting your info in case I have missed it?
Better safe than sorry.

El_Dangeroso

Actually I stand corrected, fruit may well be ok:

http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/FS/consumer/thawed.html

My source was my leaving cert home economics book that had a big scary warning about never ever re-freezing anything due to bacterial spores. Scare the crap outa me.:pac:

thegreatiam

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Actually I stand corrected, fruit may well be ok:

http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/FS/consumer/thawed.html

My source was my leaving cert home economics book that had a big scary warning about never ever re-freezing anything due to bacterial spores. Scare the crap outa me.:pac:

Yes, my source was similar at first. I would never refreeze anything. But Im starting to thing that is just what they say to the public to be safe.

Im learning that, given the right circumstances quite a bit of food is actually safe to refreeze.

General rules seem to be, if it defrosts in the fridge, below 5c you can refreeze.
and when in doubt, throw it out.

Always err on the side of caution, hence why ive been looking for actual evidence rather than what I thought i knew.

Mr Freeze

Only heard this yesterday.

I buy the Tesco own brand frozen blueberries and mixed berries, and have them in a smoothie every morning, have done for months.

Says on the packet, "Produce from multiple countries of origin".

So not getting them any more.

Table Top Joe wrote: »

Im a big frozen fruit fan, cant believe even this isn't safe now! I have fruit from Boylans I bought in Tesco, an Irish company....but are they actually Irish berries or is this one of those marketing things, you know packed in Ireland or some rubbish does anyone know?, cant find out anything about them online

I bought these last night, assuming they were Irish, but ya, they could well be just packaged in Ireland. Will be dumping them when I get home.

So, should us people who have been eating these for months, should we be going to the doctor for a shot just in case?

El_Dangeroso

Has anyone found a safe source of frozen berries? Getting withdrawal symptoms over here..

_Whimsical_

Mr Freeze wrote: »

So, should us people who have been eating these for months, should we be going to the doctor for a shot just in case?

I don't think a shot would make any difference if you were already infected. It has an incubation period of up to 50 days but is most likely to start producing around 28 days after you've ingested. If you get fatigue, stomach pain, nausea and or develop jaundice then see your Dr. That's the advice the food safety authority are giving.

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Has anyone found a safe source of frozen berries? Getting withdrawal symptoms over here..

Me too! They were so convenient.
Does anyone know if these raw food powders would have any nutritional benefit ?http://www.rawliving.eu/blueberry-powder-100g.html
Or indeed if they do would they be likely to carry any spores ?

_Whimsical_

I rang Boylans frozen fruits and turns out they are imported berries.

Pity:(

j@utis

I've seen some berries sold in local polish supermarket, never bought any though. I have no clue where those are coming from or if this warning applies to them too.

El_Dangeroso

j@utis wrote: »

I've seen some berries sold in local polish supermarket, never bought any though. I have no clue where those are coming from or if this warning applies to them too.

Apparently the warning does not apply to fresh.