erries and blueberries) while the company has been forced to withdraw its product from shelves. Ministry of Primary Industries director of plant food and environment Peter Thomson says the agency was alerted to the case on Tuesday. “The person ate the berries in late October and reported symptoms at the beginning of this month. The person was briefly hospitalised for observation, but released the same day,” he said. “The next step is to have the virus tested to see if it is the same strain as that in the four other hepatitis A cases.” Results are expected at the end of this week, or early next week. Hepatitis A has an incubation period of 15-50 days. Thirty-four people in six Australian states contracted the hepatitis A virus earlier this year, all of whom consumed the same brand of frozen mixed berries imported by a local company from China. Hepatitis A is a foodborne disease that can spread through food being handled by someone already infected. Symptoms include fever, skin turning a tinge of yellow, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and stomach pains. In the wake of this hepatitis A scare, the MPI is supporting the smallgoods company Premier Beehive NZ in a product recall of a small number of 200g packets of champagne ham after discovering that the product may contain listeria bacteria. The product has been sold in Countdown, New Work, Pak’nSave and Fresh Choice outlets in the North Island. Foodstuffs North Island and Countdown have reassured the public that the product has been removed from their aisles. The possible presence of listeria was picked up in routine product testing by the company, which acted responsibly and promptly informed MPI. The recall involves 131 200g packs of champagne shaved ham. The 131 packets were part of a batch of approximately 13,600 packets and all but the 131 have been accounted for. People are advised not to eat the products concerned. Listeria bacteria is especially harmful to pregnant women, newborns and the elderly, and symptons can include vomiting, nausea, fever, severe headaches and neck stiffness. There have been no reports of any illness but if people are concerned about their health, they should contact their doctor. No other Beehive brand products are affected. Many consumers have expressed their unhappiness with the recent food scares, querying whether they can trust in the safety of the food they purchase.