A health alert was issued today (April 12) by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control for people who have consumed uncooked Western Family brand Pomeberry Blend frozen fruit.
The centre has confirmed a link to four cases of hepatitis A in people who have consumed the fruit.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, BCCDC medical director of communicable disease prevention service, said the product poses a low risk to the public.
Five people developed the same hepatitis strain in B.C. and the centre linked four people to the consumption of the Pomeberry blend. But it hasn’t confirmed the presence of the disease in the product – it is still undergoing testing.
Henry said the BCCDC only found the common link of the consumption of the uncooked berry blend between the four people and they have nothing else in common.
The BCCDC is working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to conduct a trace-back to determine where contamination may have taken place; however, Henry said it is a lengthy process because the blend contains a number of types of berries from different countries.
Berries have been linked to hepatitis A contamination before.
“Hepatitis A can live in berries a particularly long time and can live in [frozen berries] for months or a year,” said Henry. “They are difficult to clean.”
The BCCDC is informing people who have eaten the Pomeberry product in the past 14 days and have not been previously received two doses of the hepatitis A vaccine, or have had hepatitis A before, to get vaccinated.
Henry said the vaccine can prevent the onset of hepatitis A but only if it is taken within a certain amount of time from eating the product.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority is offering drop-in immunization clinics. The clinics are Friday (April 13) from noon to 3 p.m. and Saturday (April 14) from 2-5 p.m. at the Grant Avenue Health Unit, located at 1665 Grant Ave. People unable to attend the clinics can contact the Grant Avenue unit at 250-755-6200 for information on how to obtain the vaccine.
The product was distributed through Save-On-Foods and Overwaitea Foods stores in B.C., Alberta and Ontario. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency also issued a recall of the product.