The Gao City Health Bureau detected hepatitis A virus in the Kirkland Signature Kirkland frozen 3 kinds of comprehensive berries inspected by the Costco store.

(Provided by Kaohsiung City Health Bureau, synthesized by this newspaper)

[Reporter Xu Lijuan/Kaohsiung Report] Kaohsiung City recently received a notification from the Food and Drug Administration that 5 hepatitis A cases reported in the United States in March this year were presumed to be related to frozen strawberries sold in the market. And asked the industry to take off the shelves in a preventive manner. Today (28th) it was confirmed that one of the batches was tested positive for hepatitis A virus, and went to the store for inspection again, confirming that the product is no longer sold in the current channel, and appealing to the public and the food industry to suspend use; It is understood that more than 17,000 kilograms of this product have been sold.

The Kaohsiung City Health Bureau pointed out that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on March 17 that the industry voluntarily recalled several brands of frozen organic strawberry and fruit products. Immediately launched a joint inspection of Costco’s frozen mixed berries. During the inspection and sampling of 5 batches of similar products, it was found that the “Kirkland Signature Kirkland Frozen 3 Kinds of Mixed Berries” imported from Chile (valid date: 2023/09/19) was found to be A The liver virus was removed from the shelves and destroyed in accordance with the law.

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The Health Bureau will take the initiative to send a text message to remind consumers that medical institutions at all levels are requested to strengthen notification and conduct health monitoring. If consumers have already purchased this product, they can return it to the store with their membership card and the product or call Costco. Customer service hotline 449-9909 (please dial 02 first on mobile phone) to inquire about related matters.

Costco has recently applied for inspection of similar products (ingredients: blueberry + blackberry + raspberry; size 1.81 kg) for distribution in stores across Taiwan. It has asked all stores in Taiwan to prevent 53,186.85 kg from being removed from the shelves. 17,431.78 kilograms of qualified products were imported on January 19, 2023, and 203 packages (367.43 kilograms) were to be destroyed.

The hepatitis A virus-positive products were detected in this batch. The Health Bureau has asked the industry to provide a list of sales targets, and the Health Bureau will conduct health monitoring in the future.

In addition, penalties will be imposed in accordance with the law. Unqualified products will be destroyed according to law, and the public and food business operators are urged to suspend the use of the product. If the food business uses this batch of raw materials, they should immediately stop manufacturing, processing, selling and handling recycling in accordance with the Food Safety Law. Food business operators log on to the platform or report online from county and city health bureaus.

The Health Bureau stated that viral hepatitis A is mainly transmitted through the fecal-oral route, and can be infected by eating virus-contaminated water or food. The incubation period is about 15 to 50 days. After infection, fever, general malaise, and loss of appetite may occur , vomiting and abdominal discomfort, jaundice occurs after a few days, most cases will recover naturally and have immunity for life.

This incident was a food sampling test positive for the virus. According to the preliminary epidemic investigation, a total of 5 confirmed cases of hepatitis A in Kaohsiung City this year did not eat frozen berries. So far, no hepatitis A case has been confirmed to be related to this batch of berries.

The Health Bureau has also initiated expanded surveillance, asking physicians at all levels of medical institutions to ask if they have symptoms of acute hepatitis during diagnosis and treatment, ask if they have any relevant dietary history, and report to them for testing.

The Health Bureau reminds that the public should pay attention to their health status within 60 days after eating. If the above-mentioned related symptoms appear, please go to a medical institution for medical treatment and inform the doctor of your dietary history.

People with high risk of diseases such as chronic hepatitis and immunocompromised persons can go to a medical institution to be evaluated by a doctor and receive hepatitis A vaccine at their own expense within 2 weeks of consuming this product.

Relevant information can be found on the Hepatitis A Section of the Global Information Network of the Kaohsiung City Government Health Bureau (https://khd.kcg.gov.tw/tw/index.php) or the Global Information Network of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (http:// www.cdc.gov.tw), or call the free epidemic prevention hotline 1922 (or 0800-001922), the Kaohsiung City Government epidemic prevention consultation hotline 7136800, 7151911.

The Gao City Health Bureau detected hepatitis A virus in the Kirkland Signature Kirkland frozen 3 kinds of comprehensive berries inspected by the Costco store.

(Provided by Kaohsiung City Health Bureau)

Kirkland Signature Kirkland frozen 3 kinds of mixed berries were detected with hepatitis A virus, and the expiry date of this batch is September 19, 2023.

(Provided by Kaohsiung City Health Bureau)

On April 11, the Gaoshi Health Bureau went to the Costco store to conduct a joint investigation of frozen berries and requested that they be taken off the shelves in a preventive manner.

(Provided by Kaohsiung City Health Bureau)

Kaohsiung City Health Director Huang Zhizhong led a team to the Costco store again today to confirm that imported frozen berries and other related products have been removed from the shelves.

(Provided by Kaohsiung City Health Bureau)