Contaminated pomegranate kills woman in Australia

Australians have been urged to double-check their freezers and discard packets of the frozen fruit. Representation Pic

A 64-year-old Australian woman has died after eating a frozen pomegranate that was contaminated with hepatitis A. The Australian-owned Creative Gourmet product she was eating had been recalled two months ago, according to the The Sydney Morning Herald. However, it can take between 15 and 50 days before symptoms of hepatitis A become apparent.

"The majority of people infected with hepatitis A recover fully and the woman's death is the only death linked to this recalled product nationally to date," South Australia chief medical officer Paddy Phillips said.

"While we expect most people would have disposed of the recalled product, we urge everyone to double-check freezers and remove any affected products." Phillips said that 2,000 packets of the Egyptian-grown pomegranate arils were sold to the public, but just 226 packets had been returned. Fresh and locally-grown pomegranates were not affected. According to Britain's NHS, hepatitis A is a liver infection that's usually spread through faecal matter.

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