Fears of hepatitis A in frozen blueberries in the Netherlands

At least 12 cases of hepatitis A infection have been confirmed in the Netherlands, potentially affecting hundreds more, health authorities say. The outbreak has been linked to the consumption of frozen blueberries sold by supermarket chain Albert Heijn. The contaminated blueberries were sourced from Poland. The supermarket has issued a safety warning, recalled the product, and is urging customers to discard or return the bags.

Authorities in the Netherlands fear that hundreds of people may have been infected with hepatitis A after consuming frozen blueberries from the country's largest supermarket chain, Albert Heijn. As of January 14, at least 12 people, aged between 25 and 77, had been confirmed infected. One-kilogram bags of frozen blueberries have since been removed from shelves. A spokesman for the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said on Tuesday that the reported infections are serious cases where people sought medical help. "We believe there may be hundreds of infections," the spokesman said. According to health authorities, the first patient appeared at the end of November last year, but the number of cases has increased. Therefore, the RIVM launched an investigation that led to the discovery that blueberries were linked to these cases. The Netherlands Food and Products Authority (NVWA) took samples and detected hepatitis A contamination. Albert Heijn issued a safety warning on ...