Australia to tighten food labeling laws after hepatitis A outbreak
Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced his administration’s plans to implement tougher food labeling laws following an outbreak of hepatitis A allegedly linked to frozen berries from China.
The premier announced on Thursday that his agriculture and industry ministers would submit a proposal to the cabinet by late March on the mechanism of tightening the controls of imported food.
“With imported food in particular, people want to know more about where their food, where their products, are coming from,” Abbott added.
According to Industry and Science Minister Ian Macfarlane, the country-of-origin labeling law requires products to feature large symbols showing whether the content was made in Australia or imported as well as displaying the percentage that comes from Australia.
Nanna’s and Creative Gourmet brand raspberry and mixed berry products (pictured above), sold by an Australian food maker, Patties Foods, were recalled after reportedly being linked to some 18 hepatitis A cases across Australia this month.
Australian health authorities fear that the number of hepatitis cases would rise.
The products were packed in China in poor hygienic conditions caused by contaminated water believed to be from a polluted river in Shandong Province near their packing factory.
Hepatitis A is a virus that causes inflammation of the liver and produces a variety of symptoms, including severe headache, rapid heartbeat, stomach cramps, nausea and fatigue.
In most cases, the infection is relatively short-lived and people recover within a couple of months.
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