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Are You Eating Contaminated Fruit?

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I've bought frozen fruit quite a few times recently. It’s often far cheaper than the fresh equivalent, and it’s far less wasteful, since I don’t eat a lot of fruit. In the summer it’s great for a quick frozen dessert too.

Contaminated Frozen Fruit Hepatitis A Australia Mixed Berry Paleo Network

So I’ve been horrified to read about the recent contamination recall on frozen mixed berries. Apparently certain packs have been recalled due to a potential Hepatitis A contamination. It hasn't been long since the horse meat scandal, but this seems so much worse, since the only ingredient in these packs is the fruit. With the hose meat contamination, it seemed to be mainly in heavily processed foods.

With illness starting up to 28 days after exposure to the Hepatitis virus, it may not even be clear yet how widespread the issue is. The official advice is now to boil berries before eating – but really, who does this?

The other shocker with this latest recall, is that the fruit in question is from China and Chile. I meticulously check where any fish and seafood I buy comes from, but had naively assumed the fruit would be domestic.

It really begs the question how can the contaminate have got into the product in the first place? Contamination often seems to occur through transfer of fecal matter from an infected person. Unbelievable that in this day and age of health and safety standards that could happen.

After hearing about this latest scare, I'm going to freeze my own fruit from now on. It’s going to be local fruit, washed and organic. It seems to be the only way to ensure you actually know what you’re eating.

How Safe Is Imported Produce?

The recent frozen berry contamination highlights a much bigger issue — the risks associated with imported produce. While Australia has strict food safety regulations, imported food is subject to different standards. Despite some testing, not all shipments are thoroughly screened. Many countries that export produce to Australia have lower hygiene standards, and even if a supplier is following guidelines, cross-contamination during harvesting, processing, or packaging can still occur.

When we rely on imported food, we’re often in the dark about the conditions it was grown, handled, and packaged in. The cost savings might seem appealing at first glance, but it comes at the expense of transparency and control. Buying local doesn’t just support Australian farmers — it drastically reduces the chain of custody, making it easier to trace and trust the food you eat.

Why Boiling Berries Isn't the Answer

The advice to boil frozen berries before consumption might sound like a simple fix, but it’s far from practical. Berries are often used in smoothies, desserts, and raw dishes where texture and flavour matter. Boiling them alters the consistency and can destroy the very nutrients that make berries such a healthy addition to your diet — particularly vitamin C and antioxidants, which are heat-sensitive.

More importantly, the need to boil fruit before eating should be a red flag in itself. We shouldn’t have to cook our food just to make it safe from viral contamination. This approach treats the symptom, not the cause. Instead, the focus should be on securing clean supply chains and demanding better oversight from food regulators.

The Value of Seasonal, Local Fruit

One of the best ways to avoid imported frozen fruit is to buy local produce when it’s in season and freeze it yourself. Not only is this safer, but it’s often cheaper, and the taste is superior. Strawberries, blueberries, and mangoes, when bought at peak season, can be frozen at home and used later with no compromise in quality.

Look for local farmers markets, co-ops, or fruit picking opportunities in your region. These often provide the freshest fruit with minimal handling, and you’ll be supporting local growers who take pride in their standards. Freezing your own fruit allows you to control everything — from the moment the fruit is picked to how it's stored and used.

How to Freeze Fruit at Home

If you’ve never frozen your own fruit before, it’s easier than you might think. Here’s how to do it safely and effectively:

  • Choose ripe, unblemished fruit: Wash thoroughly and allow to air dry.
  • Slice if needed: Cut larger fruit like mangoes or peaches into bite-sized pieces.
  • Pre-freeze: Spread fruit in a single layer on a baking tray lined with baking paper and freeze until solid. This stops clumping.
  • Store: Transfer to freezer-safe zip lock bags or airtight containers, label with date and type, and store in the freezer for up to 12 months.

This method helps preserve the structure, flavour, and nutritional content of your fruit — perfect for smoothies, baking, or snacking straight from the freezer.

The Bigger Problem: Processed Convenience Foods

Food recalls like the berry incident tend to get a lot of press, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. Many processed convenience foods — even those marketed as “healthy” or “natural” — are made using imported ingredients from questionable sources. Whether it’s frozen vegetables, pre-cut salad mixes, or packaged snacks, the more handling and processing a food goes through, the greater the risk of contamination.

That’s why a paleo approach, focused on simple, whole foods that are close to their natural state, offers a powerful line of defence. When you prepare meals from scratch using fresh, seasonal produce, you drastically reduce your exposure to risky ingredients and hidden contaminants.

What Needs to Change?

Ultimately, the solution lies in better regulation and consumer awareness. Food imports should be subject to rigorous, consistent testing — especially when they come from countries with lower sanitation standards. Label transparency should also be mandatory. Consumers deserve to know not just the country of origin, but also how the food was handled, processed, and transported.

In the meantime, the best thing we can do is vote with our wallets. Support businesses and brands that prioritise traceability and ethical sourcing. Choose Australian-grown wherever possible. And when in doubt, go back to basics — fresh, local, and home-prepared beats processed and imported every time.

Final Thoughts on Frozen Fruit Safety

The frozen berry scare might be out of the headlines now, but it shouldn’t be forgotten. It serves as a wake-up call about the importance of food traceability, quality control, and consumer vigilance. Freezing your own fruit is a simple and empowering step towards a safer, more nutritious kitchen.

So next time you’re at the shops or market, think about what’s in season, what’s local, and what you can freeze yourself. It’s a small action, but it adds up — for your health, your confidence in your food, and for the safety of those you prepare meals for.

I wonder what the next food scare will be?

What Has Fukushima Got To Do With You radiation contamination paleo diet natural health-min

What Has Fukushima Got To Do With You?

I'm sure you’re aware of the Fukushima disaster that hit Japan in 2011 – but you might be wondering what it has to do with you?

Following a big earthquake, a tsunami followed, which destroyed the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant. This result in almost unimaginable levels of radiation. Whilst a clean up operation is underway, with the levels of radiation, the clean up effort is a drop in the ocean. Several deaths have already occurred due to the radiation that came from the disaster.

What exactly has radiation from the Fukushima disaster done to the food chain, especially fish? Is what you are eating healthy?

Scientists have been tracking the effect of the radiation in fish since the disaster. Radiation has been discovered in fish as far away as California.

What Has Fukushima Got To Do With You radiation contamination paleo diet natural health-min

What are the risks of eating fish with traces of radiation?

Unfortunately this is not an easy question to answer. Nuclear power and environmental health expert Rosalie Bertell said “Should the public discover the true health costs of nuclear pollution, a cry would rise from all parts of the world, and people would refuse to cooperate passively with their own death”.  She also said “Claiming nuclear production of energy is ‘clean’ is like dieting, but stuffing yourself with food between meals”.

One of the problems with quantifying the dangers of radiation like this, is that the half life is so long, the damage will be done for years and years to come. It’s hard to predict today, how much damage the disaster will cause over the next few generations.

How Can You Stay Safe?

It’s really important to know exactly where your food comes from. So much frozen fish is imported from overseas – and unfortunately with the labelling laws in some countries, it can be very difficult to identify which country the fish comes from. Try to buy your fish local – and wild caught if at all possible. When buying seaweeds, make sure you know where they came from. Maine is supposed to be a good place to source seaweed from.

The Broader Impact of Fukushima on the Global Food Supply

Although Fukushima may seem like a distant issue confined to Japan’s shores, the reality is that our food system is more interconnected than ever. Thanks to global shipping and trade agreements, food grown or caught in one corner of the world can easily make its way onto a plate on the other side of the planet. This is especially true for seafood, where origin tracking is often murky and supply chains are complex.

In the years following the Fukushima disaster, radiation monitoring of seafood became a priority in several countries. However, the frequency and scope of testing vary significantly depending on national regulations, consumer demand, and political will. This means there’s no guarantee that every batch of imported seafood has been adequately screened for radioactive contamination.

Bioaccumulation and the Marine Food Chain

One of the key concerns with radiation in the marine environment is bioaccumulation. This is the process by which toxins — including radioactive isotopes like Cesium-137 — accumulate in organisms over time. Small fish absorb the radiation from the water or their food, and as larger predators eat many smaller fish, the radiation compounds up the food chain.

This means that apex predators like tuna, swordfish, and certain species of shark may carry higher levels of contamination than smaller, shorter-lived species. These are the same fish most often consumed in sushi restaurants and high-end seafood dishes. The long half-lives of radioactive elements mean they can persist in ocean ecosystems for decades, making their way into commercial seafood years after the initial incident.

Is the Radiation Risk Exaggerated?

There is a considerable divide between mainstream regulatory assessments and the concerns raised by independent scientists and environmental health advocates. Official statements often claim that radiation levels in fish remain within “safe” limits. However, critics argue that these safety thresholds are not based on cumulative lifetime exposure or the synergistic effects of multiple contaminants — nor do they account for the vulnerability of children, pregnant women, or those with compromised immune systems.

There’s also the issue of dilution. While radiation may be more diffuse in distant parts of the Pacific, the radioactive particles are still present and can enter marine life in small but biologically relevant amounts. Even low levels of exposure may increase the risk of cancer and genetic damage over time, especially when exposure is chronic or coupled with other environmental toxins.

What You Can Do to Reduce Exposure

While you can’t control what happens in the ocean, you can make conscious decisions about what ends up in your shopping trolley. Here are a few practical tips to help reduce the risk of radiation exposure through seafood and marine-based products:

  • Buy local seafood whenever possible, ideally from sources you trust. In Australia, that might mean selecting wild-caught barramundi, snapper, or flathead from local fisheries rather than imported fish with unclear origins.
  • Avoid large, long-living ocean predators such as tuna, marlin, and swordfish. These species tend to accumulate the most toxins, including mercury and radioactive elements.
  • Seek out transparency from suppliers. Some premium seafood brands provide detailed traceability, including where and how their fish were caught. If that information is not available, consider it a red flag.
  • Limit consumption of imported dried seaweed, kelp, and other marine plants unless you know the region of origin. As noted earlier, the coast of Maine in the USA is currently regarded as one of the safer regions for seaweed harvesting.
  • Choose smaller fish lower on the food chain, such as sardines, anchovies, or mackerel. These are generally less contaminated and also offer high levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

Labelling Laws and the Need for Change

One of the most frustrating aspects of this issue is the lack of mandatory, accurate country-of-origin labelling on seafood in many places. While Australia has relatively strong labelling requirements in supermarkets, it’s still legal for restaurants and food service outlets to serve imported seafood without disclosing its source. This lack of transparency makes it incredibly difficult for consumers to make informed decisions.

There’s growing pressure from consumer advocacy groups to tighten food labelling laws and implement more rigorous screening procedures for radioactive contamination, especially in imported goods. Supporting these initiatives can help drive change from the ground up — so be sure to speak up, ask questions, and vote with your wallet wherever possible.

The Bigger Picture: Fukushima as a Wake-Up Call

The Fukushima disaster is not just a Japanese problem. It’s a stark reminder of how fragile our modern systems are — from nuclear energy to globalised food production. It also exposes the limits of government transparency, as many official reports were initially downplayed or delayed.

For those of us striving to live a more natural, intentional lifestyle — whether through Paleo, ancestral, or real-food principles — the event reinforces the importance of self-education and responsibility. When it comes to what we eat, blind trust in the system is no longer a viable strategy.

Should You Stop Eating Seafood Altogether?

Not necessarily. Seafood is an incredibly nutrient-dense food source, rich in omega-3s, iodine, selenium, and quality protein. Rather than eliminating it entirely, the key is to be selective and mindful about sourcing. If you can access local, sustainably caught fish from clean waters, there is no reason to avoid it.

However, now more than ever, it’s vital to avoid low-quality seafood from industrial sources. Fish farming practices in some countries raise additional concerns around antibiotics, overcrowding, and feed contamination — issues that compound potential radiation risks.

Final Thoughts: A New Awareness Around Sourcing

The Fukushima disaster highlights how interconnected we are with the planet — and how the consequences of environmental events can ripple across oceans and generations. While the full impact of the incident may not be known for decades, we don’t have to wait to take action. By choosing local, transparent, and responsibly sourced seafood, you can protect your health and contribute to a more sustainable food system.

In the end, the best defence is knowledge. Ask questions. Read labels. Support producers who care about transparency and food safety. And, above all, prioritise real, whole food — the kind our ancestors ate long before industrial disasters entered the picture.

Are you concerned about where your food comes from? How do you avoid eating potentially harmful food like this? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, and on the Fukushima disaster, in the comments below.