Pomegranate recalled after hepatitis scare

The supplier of imported frozen pomegranate thought to be responsible for seven cases of hepatitis A in NSW is recalling a "relatively small batch" as a precaution.

NSW Health on Friday warned anyone who may have bought the product from Coles not to eat it, after it was established all seven people who contracted the infection across NSW had consumed the fruit.

Entyce Food Ingredients on Saturday issued a statement identifying the potential culprit as Creative Gourmet Frozen Pomegranate (180g) with a best before date up to and including March 21, 2020.

The company insists the health and safety of consumers is "of paramount importance".

"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 in the statement.

"The recall affects less than one per cent of the Creative Gourmet fruit sold annually in Australia."

The company was also eager to point out the cases were yet to be directly linked to Entyce products and all product tested to date had been cleared.

Coles issued an apology to those affected.

"Customers can return the product to Coles supermarkets for a full refund," a spokesman said in a statement.

"Any consumers concerned about their health should seek medical advice."

Genetic testing of the patients, who are based in Sydney, Wollongong and the Central Coast, identified a unique strain of the infection.

Hepatitis A sympoms can take up to 50 days to develop and include nausea, vomiting, fever and a yellowing of the skin, NSW Health's Dr Vicky Sheppeard says.

"In most people the symptoms resolve after a few weeks with supportive treatment, mainly rest and fluids," she said in a statement.

Australian-grown pomegranate - both fresh and frozen - has not been implicated.

Health authorities are working with interstate counterparts to work out whether there have been locally-acquired cases elsewhere.