Interior Health says no risk eating cherries from South Okanagan facility after workers test positive for COVID-19

Interior Health doesn't have concerns about a health risk for people eating produce from an Oliver area cherry packing plant and farm after it issued a quarantine order for workers.

The health authority yesterday, July 13, said two cases of COVID-19 had been diagnosed amongst farm workers at the Krazy Cherry Fruit Company and issued an order for 36 temporary workers and nine others on the farm to quarantine to ensure individuals remained on the farm until the Interior Health could confirm there are no more infections.

Interior Health said in a statement today, July 14, it does not have concerns about a health risk to individuals consuming produce from Krazy Cherry Fruit Company as there is no evident COVID-19 spreads through food products.

The spread of COVID-19 through food packaging has not been documented and all cherries picked at the orchard are in contact with a 20 ppm chlorine solution, Interior Health said.

At Krazy cherry farm, we are confident that all workers wore masks while working at the packing plant, Interior Health said.

The health authority advised consumers to wash all fruits and their hands prior to consumption of fresh produce, and to rinse produce like cherries under cold water.

Meanwhile, the Town of Oliver is reopening its municipal offices after closing them yesterday when a staff member reported COVID-19 symptoms.

The town said in a media release the results of a COVID-19 test came back negative late yesterday.

The decision to close town hall was done as a precautionary measure, the town said.

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