A range of imported frozen berries is being recalled in New Zealand after four people are believed to have contracted hepatitis A from the fruit, months after Australia went through a similar experience.
NZ's Ministry of Primary Industries has asked consumers to return or throw out the Fruzio brand of mixed berries (strawberries and blackberries), strawberries, blackberries, and 3 berry mix (blackberries, strawberries and blueberries).
The ministry has directed the company to withdraw all of the product from its shelves.
Earlier in the week, the ministry said it was investigating imported frozen berries after four cases of infectious disease.
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Brand owner Mike Glover of FSL Foods told AAP the products had been supplied by a company in China, which he had worked with for seven years.
The supplier was internationally certified, sold products to markets, including Japan and Europe, and had a hepatitis testing system, he said.
"We have just been spectacularly unlucky.
"We feel hugely for the people who got hepatitis A. You don't set out to give people hepatitis A."
Thirty-four people in six Australian states contracted the hepatitis A virus earlier this year, all of whom consumed the same brand of frozen mixed berries imported by a local company from China.
Hepatitis A is a foodborne disease that can spread through food being handled by someone already infected.
Symptoms include fever, skin turning a tinge of yellow, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and stomach pains.
