Talley's faces grilling over poisonous berries

Food company Talley's is tightening its processes after nightshade berries were discovered among packets of frozen vegetables, the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) says.

The South Island company received complaints over recent weeks from consumers who found the current-like black nightshade berries in their food.

The variety differs from deadly nightshade (atropa belladonna) which is highly toxic, but rare in New Zealand.

Christchurch man Scott Barnard contacted the NZFSA after finding the berries in a packet of frozen beans he was about to serve his 19-month-old son several weeks ago.

NZFSA director of compliance and investigation, Geoff Allen, told NZPA black nightshade growing among pea crops was a common problem and Talley's crops were particularly hard hit in the 2007/2008 harvest.

"In most years it's relatively low-level and they're able to identify and remove most of the contamination," Mr Allen said.

While the tail end of affected product grown in that season was withdrawn this year, some still ended up in people's freezers.

Mr Allen said Talley's had put in place additional safety processes to reduce the amount of contamination hitting the factory, along with systems to better detect contamination.

"It's early days yet, but what I can confirm is that they are very much aware of it and are putting their minds to it at all levels to do that."

Mr Allen said black nightshade plant was toxic at low-level, and the berries had "little or no toxicity".

He said the issue was more one of quality control than food safety.

"It's not perfect, there will always be – occasionally – these berries coming through, and it's probably not necessarily only Talley's which has this problem as well."

He said the NZFSA would continue to work with Talley's to assess their processes and offer advice or assistance if necessary.

Any consumers who came across the berries in frozen food packets should either remove them or return the packet to the supplier.

If large numbers of berries were found people should contact their local public health unit, and any health concerns should be referred to a doctor.

The green, unripe berries could be identified by their star-like scales. They also revealed seeds when squeezed.

-NZPA