Contaminated ... berry eaters face up to seven more weeks of uncertainty before they find out whether they're infected. Picture: Supplied Source: Getty Images
Raspberries appear to be the link in a hepatitis A scare in which nine Australians have tested positive.
BERRY eaters face up to seven more weeks of uncertainty to see if they'll contract Hepatitis A.
Australia's chief medical officer Chris Baggoley estimates one in 100 people who ate the contaminated, imported frozen berries will contract the disease.
But the extent to which they're affected could vary from showing no symptoms to being ill for several weeks.
The average incubation period for Hepatitis A is four weeks but it could take as long as seven weeks to show up.
"If someone has consumed the berries and they are well, seven weeks after that consumption they'll certainly be fine," Professor Baggoley told reporters in Canberra.
By Wednesday afternoon, 13 people in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Western Australia had the virus after eating the Nanna's and Creative Gourmet brands of imported frozen mixed berries.
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Safety warning ... Woolworths in Neutral Bay displays a recall notice on the Nanna's Berries stand. Picture: Bradley Hunter Source: News Corp Australia
WA health authorities expect to see more hepatitis A infections after the state's first case was confirmed on Wednesday.
Children at nine SA primary schools and child care centres may have been served frozen berries from the recalled batches.
And students at a Victorian high school also ate the berries after making smoothies during a cooking class.
None has tested positive for the virus.
Three Wests Tigers NRL players are reportedly having tests after eating the fruit.
Wests Tigers are confident no player has hepatitis A despite fears three players ate contaminated berries.
WA communicable disease control director Paul Armstrong said there was no need for people who ate the berries and remained well to be tested.
Professor Baggoley said a definitive link between all the cases should be confirmed via special blood tests later this week.
He noted Hepatitis A was a relatively common disease, with about 20 cases reported each month although not usually all linked as with this outbreak.
Hep A ... what you need to know. Picture: News Corp Australia Source: Supplied
The federal government is considering toughening import screening procedures following the scare. But Prime Minister Tony Abbott said companies also had to lift their game.
"The bottom line is that companies shouldn't be poisoning their customers," Mr Abbott said.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand chief executive Steve McCutcheon said all food sold in Australia, whether imported or produced here, had to meet the same standards.
"At a domestic level there is not an awful lot of testing done," he said in Canberra.
"There is some testing done at the border."
Recalled ... a health warning has been issued for 1kg packets of Nanna's Frozen Mixed Berries. Picture: Brendan Francis Source: News Corp Australia
Patties Foods is examining its supply chain to work out exactly where the problem was, Mr McCutcheon said.
It was too early to know whether Australian inspectors should be sent to China.
The government will review any areas such as biosecurity, quarantine or import-export policy that need examining.
Farmers want an overhaul of labelling to help consumers identify Australian grown and packaged food.
But Mr Abbott said more red tape and regulation of the private sector could lead to soaring food costs and there was a balancing act between safe products and a fair price.
Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce urged consumers to buy Australian produce.
"I want to make sure I do everything in my power to say to people: your safest food is your domestic food. That is why you pay a premium for Australian product. It is clean, green and healthy," he said.
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