Government officials in Qatar have declared Egyptian strawberries safe to eat amid concerns over whether the frozen fruit carries the Hepatitis A virus, said Doha news.
This declaration came after samples of strawberries imported into Qatar were tested for infection, but “no case of contamination has been found”, said an official at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment
Also, in a statement earlier this week, the Ministry of Public Health said that it has not received any notices or warnings from international agencies about the strawberries.
It added that it will continue investigating the matter.
Many in Qatar expressed concern about the fruit on social media after more than 100 people in the US fell ill this year, reportedly from consuming imported frozen strawberries from Egypt.
Meanwhile, the Environmental authorities in United Arab Emirates are tightening controls on imports of Egyptian frozen strawberries following the USA case.
The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment in UAE said that it would take measures to avoid the entry of any contaminated products posing a risk to UAE consumers.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who drank at the same smoothie chain began getting sick from early May through August.
The official report issued by the Food and Drug Administration’s in USA, stated that 119 people diagnosed with Hepatitis A have been reported in eight US states.
