Frozen berry food safety

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Fred99

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#1441009 5-Dec-2015 13:22

mattwnz:
Fred99:
geek4me: I read somewhere that human effluent is used to fertilize crops in some areas of China. If this is true it could explain how one can get Hepatitis from eating it.

Doing that is common throughout the third world but I doubt that it would happen with larger / state controlled food production for export from China. Most probably exactly the same thing which could and has happened here with infected pickers / handlers and personal hygiene. Risk is probably even exacerbated here because fruit picking is casual low paid work attracting itinerants, but mitigated because of strict hygiene measures and lower prevalence of infection. But it seems apparent that there are problems in China - which is rather offputting to say the least.

The new food safety and handling rules are pretty strick, and I am not aware of this type of problem occurring in NZ grown food that has been frozen, at least not since the rules were tightened. I wonder if this has more to do with them being cut and frozen, and the freezing suspending the bugs in time. I still think the public would benefit it from country of origin labelling so people have an informed choice of knowing where their food is coming from. I believe they do in Australia

Freezing won't kill Hep A virus.
It has happened here. Strict food handling rules are an obvious preventative measure, but I guess that if Hep A is prevalent in the population, then even so the risk of contamination increases accordingly. From what I gather, the virus is shed in faeces before symptoms (if any) may be apparent, and before antibodies can be detected in a blood test. So there's a problem. I guess the only solution other than food hygiene measures etc may be to only permit handlers who have been vaccinated to handle the fruit, and even then, with a long stand-down period between vaccination and working.

mattwnz

20141 posts

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#1441019 5-Dec-2015 13:36

Fred99:
mattwnz:
Fred99:
geek4me: I read somewhere that human effluent is used to fertilize crops in some areas of China. If this is true it could explain how one can get Hepatitis from eating it.

Doing that is common throughout the third world but I doubt that it would happen with larger / state controlled food production for export from China. Most probably exactly the same thing which could and has happened here with infected pickers / handlers and personal hygiene. Risk is probably even exacerbated here because fruit picking is casual low paid work attracting itinerants, but mitigated because of strict hygiene measures and lower prevalence of infection. But it seems apparent that there are problems in China - which is rather offputting to say the least.

The new food safety and handling rules are pretty strick, and I am not aware of this type of problem occurring in NZ grown food that has been frozen, at least not since the rules were tightened. I wonder if this has more to do with them being cut and frozen, and the freezing suspending the bugs in time. I still think the public would benefit it from country of origin labelling so people have an informed choice of knowing where their food is coming from. I believe they do in Australia

Freezing won't kill Hep A virus.
It has happened here. Strict food handling rules are an obvious preventative measure, but I guess that if Hep A is prevalent in the population, then even so the risk of contamination increases accordingly. From what I gather, the virus is shed in faeces before symptoms (if any) may be apparent, and before antibodies can be detected in a blood test. So there's a problem. I guess the only solution other than food hygiene measures etc may be to only permit handlers who have been vaccinated to handle the fruit, and even then, with a long stand-down period between vaccination and working.

I never said freezing would kill it, in fact I said it sounds like freezing suspends the bug in time. I do wonder if this was fresh fruit,, whether it would have been a problem, and the bug would have died, as it can't exist on a dry fruit surface?
I am not sure if hep a is a notifiable disease in NZ. If so, then it would have been a lot easier to trace if someone with hep a had been handling fruit and vegetables, and they could have done a recall before it reached the market. I remember when got ill with a gastro illness which I believe I got from a restaurant, I had to be reported and they had to ask me questions whether I was involved with any food processing activities. So NZ rules are pretty good. The problem is that all this regulation makes our food grown in NZ expensive, which is why much is imported, and so much of our food we grow to our strict standards are benefiting people overseas who import it, rather than NZers.

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#1441059 5-Dec-2015 17:21

mattwnz:
Fred99:
mattwnz:
Fred99:
geek4me: I read somewhere that human effluent is used to fertilize crops in some areas of China. If this is true it could explain how one can get Hepatitis from eating it.

Doing that is common throughout the third world but I doubt that it would happen with larger / state controlled food production for export from China. Most probably exactly the same thing which could and has happened here with infected pickers / handlers and personal hygiene. Risk is probably even exacerbated here because fruit picking is casual low paid work attracting itinerants, but mitigated because of strict hygiene measures and lower prevalence of infection. But it seems apparent that there are problems in China - which is rather offputting to say the least.

The new food safety and handling rules are pretty strick, and I am not aware of this type of problem occurring in NZ grown food that has been frozen, at least not since the rules were tightened. I wonder if this has more to do with them being cut and frozen, and the freezing suspending the bugs in time. I still think the public would benefit it from country of origin labelling so people have an informed choice of knowing where their food is coming from. I believe they do in Australia

Freezing won't kill Hep A virus.
It has happened here. Strict food handling rules are an obvious preventative measure, but I guess that if Hep A is prevalent in the population, then even so the risk of contamination increases accordingly. From what I gather, the virus is shed in faeces before symptoms (if any) may be apparent, and before antibodies can be detected in a blood test. So there's a problem. I guess the only solution other than food hygiene measures etc may be to only permit handlers who have been vaccinated to handle the fruit, and even then, with a long stand-down period between vaccination and working.

I never said freezing would kill it, in fact I said it sounds like freezing suspends the bug in time. I do wonder if this was fresh fruit,, whether it would have been a problem, and the bug would have died, as it can't exist on a dry fruit surface?
I am not sure if hep a is a notifiable disease in NZ. If so, then it would have been a lot easier to trace if someone with hep a had been handling fruit and vegetables, and they could have done a recall before it reached the market. I remember when got ill with a gastro illness which I believe I got from a restaurant, I had to be reported and they had to ask me questions whether I was involved with any food processing activities. So NZ rules are pretty good. The problem is that all this regulation makes our food grown in NZ expensive, which is why much is imported, and so much of our food we grow to our strict standards are benefiting people overseas who import it, rather than NZers.

OK - I misread what you'd said.
That's probably why it's a particular problem with berries (in past cases in NZ with local fruit it was with blueberries). They process / freeze the fruit ASAP after harvest, it's not sitting around for long enough for the virus to die. The the virus remains viable - frozen - for a couple of years. It also seems to be described as pretty tough - persists on surfaces for days - longer than unprocessed berries would be left and easily transferred between surfaces. It can be nuked effectively (irradiated) on berries apparently. Perhaps if we're going to continue to import frozen berries, they should be irradiated.

Linuxluver

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#1441104 5-Dec-2015 19:44

Aredwood: I'm vaccinated against hepatitis A and B. So I'm fine. Although I don't eat berries as they are yet another product that would cost almost nothing to grow. Yet the supermarkets charge heaps for. Especially as alot of farmers consider blackberry a weed that needs to be eradicated from their fields.

You buy frozen berries so you can have berries all year 'round.....unless you grow enough yourself to freeze yourself and have your own supply year 'round.

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Linuxluver

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#1441107 5-Dec-2015 19:50

Fred99: One product now identified:

Fruzio brand strawberry blackberry mix.
Not mentioned in the Stuff article is that COA is China.

I have avoided Fruzio products sourced from China....or products that don't say where they come from. In fact, I avoid all food products from China (like the peanut butter from ETA or sanitarium or no-name).

Most frozen berry products say, on the packet, where the contents come from:

18 degrees - frozen blueberries: Chile (the blueberries are 'gritty' - I'm not a fan). They also come from Canada sometimes....but lately mostly Chile. I'm not a fan of the Chilean berries.

OOB - organic frozen blueberries usually from NZ (in season / when available) or Canada

Sujon - frozen blueberries usually from NZ (in season / when available) or Canada

Golden Orchard - frozen blueberries usually from NZ (in season / when available) or Canada

I use all of these frequently. I pour boiling water over the blueberries in a bowl, then drain it 30 seconds later. This is long enough to thaw the berries without making them warm.....and is as close to fresh blueberries as you'll get out of season...and a quarter the price of fresh blueberries (except at the peak of the local fresh berry season). Blueberries are anti-oxidants, enhance cognitive function by about 5% for up to 5 hours, as well as improving memory....and taste good. I have some every morning.

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I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

xlinknz

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#1441128 5-Dec-2015 21:00

Linuxluver:

I have avoided Fruzio products sourced from China....or products that don't say where they come from. In fact, I avoid all food products from China (like the peanut butter from ETA or sanitarium or no-name).

Most frozen berry products say, on the packet, where the contents come from:

18 degrees - frozen blueberries: Chile (the blueberries are 'gritty' - I'm not a fan). They also come from Canada sometimes....but lately mostly Chile. I'm not a fan of the Chilean berries.

OOB - organic frozen blueberries usually from NZ (in season / when available) or Canada

Sujon - frozen blueberries usually from NZ (in season / when available) or Canada

Golden Orchard - frozen blueberries usually from NZ (in season / when available) or Canada

I use all of these frequently. I pour boiling water over the blueberries in a bowl, then drain it 30 seconds later. This is long enough to thaw the berries without making them warm.....and is as close to fresh blueberries as you'll get out of season...and a quarter the price of fresh blueberries (except at the peak of the local fresh berry season). Blueberries are anti-oxidants, enhance cognitive function by about 5% for up to 5 hours, as well as improving memory....and taste good. I have some every morning.

We have some Sujon in the freezer. It has been an interesting exercise on the sorry state of food labelling in Nz

1. The front of the package says Sujon Family Estate - Nelson - New zealand
2. The back says Packed from Nz and or imported ingredients
3. On their web site under growers it lists only their Nz growers

Essentially the indication and impression created [esp. 1 & 3] to a non detailed examination is that these are nz berries, only on the best before date is a stamp [which rubs off easily] that says mine are grown in Canada [I got this from Sujon FB page]

Question - Does anyone make nz guaranteed blueberries ?

Linuxluver

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#1441893 7-Dec-2015 11:18

xlinknz:
Linuxluver:

I have avoided Fruzio products sourced from China....or products that don't say where they come from. In fact, I avoid all food products from China (like the peanut butter from ETA or sanitarium or no-name).

Most frozen berry products say, on the packet, where the contents come from:

18 degrees - frozen blueberries: Chile (the blueberries are 'gritty' - I'm not a fan). They also come from Canada sometimes....but lately mostly Chile. I'm not a fan of the Chilean berries.

OOB - organic frozen blueberries usually from NZ (in season / when available) or Canada

Sujon - frozen blueberries usually from NZ (in season / when available) or Canada

Golden Orchard - frozen blueberries usually from NZ (in season / when available) or Canada

I use all of these frequently. I pour boiling water over the blueberries in a bowl, then drain it 30 seconds later. This is long enough to thaw the berries without making them warm.....and is as close to fresh blueberries as you'll get out of season...and a quarter the price of fresh blueberries (except at the peak of the local fresh berry season). Blueberries are anti-oxidants, enhance cognitive function by about 5% for up to 5 hours, as well as improving memory....and taste good. I have some every morning.

We have some Sujon in the freezer. It has been an interesting exercise on the sorry state of food labelling in Nz

1. The front of the package says Sujon Family Estate - Nelson - New zealand
2. The back says Packed from Nz and or imported ingredients
3. On their web site under growers it lists only their Nz growers

Essentially the indication and impression created [esp. 1 & 3] to a non detailed examination is that these are nz berries, only on the best before date is a stamp [which rubs off easily] that says mine are grown in Canada [I got this from Sujon FB page]

Question - Does anyone make nz guaranteed blueberries ?

Isn't there some black-ink printing on the back of the Sujon bag that says what country they are from? They add it at time of packaging likely because sources change by season. So you have to check each time. if you wanted to guarantee NZ source, you could buy in bulk during our season and then store them for the part of the year they are / may be sourced elsewhere. Get a big freezer. (Photo attached).

(Update: Most frozen berries from any vendor have some printing like this - somewhere! - describing the source and a date).

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

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