64-year-old woman’s death linked to frozen fruit recall
A South Australian woman who contracted hepatitis A from eating a frozen pomegranate product that was recalled from supermarket freezers two months ago, has died.
After NSW Health found a link between the fruit and several hepatitis A cases, the product was immediately recalled.
The chief medical officer and chief public health officer in South Australia, Professor Paddy Phillips, revealed that the 64-year-old woman died last Wednesday.
“This is a rare and tragic case and I offer my sincere condolences to the woman's family," Professor Phillips said.
"The majority of people infected with hepatitis A recovered fully and the woman's death is the only death linked to this recalled product nationally to date.
"The incubation period for hepatitis A is generally 15-50 days, so we don't anticipate further cases because the product was recalled two months ago.
“While we expect most people would have disposed of the recalled product, we urge everyone to double-check freezers and remove any affected products.”
On April 7, there was a nationwide recall of Creative Gourmet’s frozen pomegranate and Coles removed the product from freezers.
The imported product resulted in 24 Aussies being diagnosed with hepatitis A.
Symptoms of hepatitis A include fever, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal pain, dark-coloured urine and jaundice.
Entyce Food Ingredients, the company that imported the frozen fruit, claimed the contamination was an isolated incident.
“Consumers can be confident that the recalled product Creative Gourmet Frozen Pomegranate Arils 180g is an isolated one and no other Creative Gourmet products are affected,” it said.
“The recall affects less than one per cent of the Creative Gourmet fruit sold annually in Australia.”