In the Netherlands and Belgium, a supermarket chain has recalled thousands of bags of frozen blueberries. A dozen people developed hepatitis A after consuming it. How can this contamination be explained and does it present a risk for French consumers? RMC Conso takes stock.
Western Europe is not part of the hepatitis A virus prevalence zone. How did it end up in thousands of bags of blueberries sold in the Netherlands and Belgium? This Monday, January 13, the Dutch supermarket brand Albert Heijn withdrew from sale and recalled all batches of frozen blueberries marketed under its distributor brand.
The alert was launched after the hepatitis A infection of twelve people in the Netherlands, and the hospitalization of two of them. The first patient was reported in late November, before cases increased, triggering an investigation by the Dutch public health agency. The latter therefore found the virus in these blueberries, which all the victims had consumed.
Very rare contaminations in Europe
Hepatitis A food contamination is particularly rare in Europe. The prevalence of this virus is very low there, unlike in poorer countries where the water sanitation system is failing. Thus, one of the rare cases previously noted was that, in March 2024, of Moroccan strawberries marketed in Spain. A notification of contamination of these fruits with hepatitis A had been sent to the European Commission.
For epidemiologist Antoine Flahault, it is not surprising that this virus can be found in such products.
“Hepatitis A is purely hand-carried: we contaminate it through poor hand hygiene. We also know that this virus resists very well on food. Blueberries are typically the kind of fruit on which it can resist between the moment of gathering and consumption”, he notes to RMC Conso.
Furthermore, the fact that these blueberries were frozen does not reduce the risk of spread. A document from ANSES (National Food Safety Agency) on hepatitis A states that the virus “is resistant to conventional methods of food preservation (refrigeration and freezing)”.
Blueberries from Poland
In this case, the Alber Heijn brand told the Dutch media that its blueberries came from a Polish manufacturer. And that the outbreak was “probably due to a lack of hygiene in the packaging process”. In Poland, the prevalence of hepatitis A is moderate.
Could blueberries sold in France be affected? For the moment, the DGCCRF has not carried out any product recall linked to this contamination. And the Directorate General for Food (DGAL), contacted by RMC Conso, has not reported any such cases in France. But for Antoine Flahault, nothing can be excluded.
“It is likely that this producer has spread its production to other countries. This type of alert is generally relayed in Europe and then internationally, it can take a few days. In the past, we have seen epidemics linked to contaminations with the E. Coli bacteria which are hard to control”, relates the epidemiologist.
He still wants to be reassuring. According to him, the fact that the outbreak has been identified reduces the risk. Especially since cases would have already been identified in France if the virus had started to spread.
A virus less serious than hepatitis B or C
Hepatitis A generally results in fever, feeling unwell, loss of appetite, nausea, dark urine, abdominal discomfort. As well as a yellow coloring of the eyes and skin. Exactly the symptoms described by a 44-year-old woman who consumed these blueberries, in the Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad.
This victim claims that her husband also consumed it, but was not affected. Nothing surprising, for Antoine Flahault.
“Infectious diseases are never certain. Maybe this husband ingested fewer infected blueberries and was not contaminated. Or he carried the virus but did not get sick” , he explains.
The epidemiologist also recalls that hepatitis A is a less serious virus than hepatitis B or C, and very rarely fatal. And that it is possible to get vaccinated.
