All imports of Costco frozen berries from the US have been halted for a month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Wednesday, after it identified a batch of frozen blueberries contaminated with the hepatitis A virus.
A batch totaling 15,236kg of Kirkland Signature whole frozen blueberries imported from the US was found to contain the contagious virus and would be destroyed, the FDA said.
Samples from the batch were taken on April 11 and the results were received late on Monday, FDA Northern Center Deputy Director-General Lin Hsu-yang (林旭陽) said.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
The case was identified at the border and would be destroyed before reaching the market, he said, adding that local health departments had been asked to take samples of frozen blueberries from Costco locations for testing.
The temporary import freeze applies to frozen strawberries, blueberries and blackberries imported from the US and might be extended longer than June 2 if necessary, Lin said.
Costco on Wednesday said it has stopped all sales of frozen berries as well as applications to import the products as it seeks clarification from its US supplier.
The FDA has been inspecting all imports of Costco berries after the contagious virus was detected in a batch of Kirkland Signature Three Berries Blend imported from Chile on April 10, Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting at the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee.
Asked why the FDA appeared to delay issuing a warning about the first case, as it did not announce the finding until Friday last week despite receiving notification from the US FDA in March, Hsueh said that the US-identified batch originated from Mexico.
An FDA investigation found that no products from that batch had been imported to Taiwan, so it did not issue a warning at the time, he said.
Out of caution, it began inspecting products already circulating in the market, he said, adding that testing for the hepatitis A virus takes longer and is more complex than for pesticides, so it took some time to identify the contaminated batch from Chile.
The Centers for Disease Control has advised anyone who has eaten frozen berries to monitor their health for 60 days starting from the last day of consumption.
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