Update | Australian food company recalls berries from China after hepatitis A outbreak

An Australian company has recalled its frozen berry products following a hepatitis A outbreak linked to poor hygiene and water supplies in a Chinese packaging plant, reigniting fears about the safety of the Asian giant’s food exports.

Australian authorities were investigating on Monday after as many as nine people were diagnosed with the disease after eating the Patties Foods Ltd berries, which were grown in Chile and China before being packaged at the Chinese factory.

"We do expect to see more cases," Sonya Bennett, senior director of Queensland state’s communicable diseases unit, told reporters.

Food safety has long been an issue in China, where pollution from rapid industrialisation has exacted a heavy toll on soil and water. Poor hygiene in production and packaging plants has also been a problem.

Contamination scandals that led to deaths and serious illnesses have increased the popularity in China of imports of European infant formula, New Zealand milk and Japanese rice.

More than 11,000 school children in Germany were laid low in October 2012 by diarrhoea and vomiting that authorities linked to frozen strawberries imported from China. Chinese authorities refuted those claims.

Australia’s Victoria state government said the contamination in the latest case had been traced back to China.