Australia bans Jordanian dates that caused hepatitis B to 3 of its citizens... and asks them to throw it in the trash

picture

The Australian authorities decided to prevent the entry of one of the Jordanian "Majjool" dates to Australia, after monitoring 3 cases of hepatitis caused by viral contamination, according to the Australian news.com.au website.

The site said that the Food Authority of New South Wales confirmed that any further consignments of the product will be kept at the border, so that the Jordanian authorities can ensure that the risk of contamination is addressed.

Within two months, Jordan had exported 50 tons of these dates to Australia, and the last shipment was about 3 months ago, according to a Jordanian dates source.

The source pointed out to the Jordanian "Ammon" news website that Israeli traders might be behind this event, with the aim of damaging the reputation of the Jordanian producer as a strong competitor to Israeli dates in the Australian and European markets.

And he indicated that Jordanian dates entered the European market at much lower prices than Israeli dates and occupied a position in the markets, which is not excluded by these traders.

He added that a decision was issued yesterday by the Australian authorities to prevent the entry of consignments of Jordanian dates from this product, before even showing final reports proving that it was the cause of the infection.

For his part, Jordanian Minister of Agriculture, Khaled Al-Hanaifat, confirmed to "Ammon" that the ministry is following up the incident with the Australian authorities.

He said that Jordan is trying first to verify the contamination of the shipment, stressing that there are other competing parties trying to harm the Jordanian product.

Australian media quoted health authorities as saying that three people in New South Wales had been diagnosed with a unique and highly contagious strain of hepatitis A after eating a certain type of Medjool dates.

Health officials believe the three people diagnosed in recent weeks have contracted the infection from eating Jordanian-sourced dates.

The importer of the product issued a withdrawal request for boxes weighing 1 kilogram and 5 kilograms of the product, indicating the possibility of bacterial contamination.

The Food Authority advised anyone who purchased a date product to stop eating it immediately, and said in a statement: "Throw the rest of the product in the trash or return the dates to the place of purchase for a full refund."

Australian health authorities said genetic testing of infected patients had identified a "unique strain" of the virus that had not previously been detected in Australia.

She added, "The strain was similar to that found at the epicenter of a hepatitis A outbreak in the UK earlier this year, which was found to be caused by fresh Medjool dates imported from Jordan. Authorities are working with other states and territories to determine if any cases of hepatitis have been detected. other livers of this strain."

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news