Acting in an uncertain world…do you know where your food comes from?
Our recent trip to the Hayward Gallery, where we learnt about the Mad Cow disease epidemic (BSE), and the ‘Hybrid Forms’ chapter in this week’s reading seem pertinent considering the current frozen berry recall in Australia.
For those of you who are unaware:
As of yesterday, 18 Australians have been diagnosed with Hepatitis A due to consumption of infected frozen berries, sold nation-wide under the brand names Creative Gourmet and Nanna’s. The berries have since been recalled from shelves and Australians have been urged to stop consumption from previously purchased packs. As Hepatitis A may take two to seven weeks to exhibit symptoms, it is currently unclear how many frozen berry consumers will be affected.
The cause of the virus’ spread has been identified as a polluted river in China, where the berries are washed before being frozen and sent to Australia for packing. This health scare has many Australians calling for clearer labels on imported food items. While a disaster for Creative Gourmet and Nanna’s, Australian producers are likely to gain from this outbreak, as consumers are being urged to “buy Australian and save yourself a pain in the gut”.
News of this outbreak saw me calling Sainsbury to check where their frozen blueberries are sourced, as the packaging only states that the product is “packed in the UK”. For those who also consume Sainsbury’s frozen blueberries, they are apparently sourced from Chile.
Some links to related articles are below:
Contributed by CynthiaSear on 23/02/2015
