Compo lawyer says save bad berries

Consumers who have eaten berries at the centre of a Hepatitis A scare should ignore advice to throw the frozen fruit out and keep the product in case they need to make a claim, a lawyer says.

Compensation lawyer Mark O'Connor said consumers should ignore the product recall by the distributors of Nanna's frozen berries because they could be key evidence should a consumer contract the virus.

"If someone has consumed some I would suggest they hang on to them - put them in the freezer, mark them `poison' or something so nobody else consumes any," he said.

"If they become ill later on then they will need to be able to prove that they have consumed the product in question, and my experience with insurance companies is they won't take your word for it."

Nine Australians have now tested positive to Hepatitis A after consuming the contaminated berries.

Four cases are in Queensland, three from Victoria and two from NSW.

Victorian company Patties Foods has issued a national recall on the following products: Nanna's Raspberries 1kg packs, Nanna's Frozen Mixed Berries 1kg packs and Patties' 300g and 500g packs of Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries.

Hepatitis A is a viral disease that affects the liver. Symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea, fatigue and jaundice.

It has a incubation period of up to 50 days.