The manager of Huntley Berry Farm Tony Belmonte said not only was there an increase in demand for locally grown berries, customers were also asking more questions about insecticides used on the fruit.

“We’ve noticed the impact of what’s happened overseas already,” Mr Belmonte said.

“People are asking us what we spray on our berries but we’re 100 percent organic and we only spray a very light pesticide once a year.”

Mr Belmonte said the Hepatitis A contamination will impact people’s buying habits.

“You get what you pay for,” Mr Belmonte said.

“It’s really easy to walk into a supermarket and buy frozen berries and (while) they may be cheaper they never taste as good as fresh berries.”

Mr Belmonte said it was only a matter of time before a contamination like this occurred and he’d seen human sewerage used to grow food in rural areas of China 

“Nothing like this could ever happen in Australia,” Mr Belmonte said.

He said foreign growers are often forced to cut corners when it came to production in an effort to meet the demands of buyers “chasing the bottom dollar”.

NSW Farmers horticulture chair and apple grower Peter Darley said this health scare has reinforced the need for Australian families to know where the food they buy comes from.

“This unfortunate incident shows that reform to Australia’s country of origin labelling is urgently required,” Mr Darley said.

“Having a label that only says packed in Australia using imported fruit or made in Australia from local and imported ingredients is meaningless.

“Consumers have to know food produced in Australia is of higher quality and is safe to feed their families.”