Zespri is planning to destroy 100,000 trays of kiwifruit after a Bay of Plenty based kiwifruit picker contracted the gastrointestinal bacterial disease, typhoid.

The person involved, an overseas worker, is in hospital being monitored and is expected to be discharged today.

Public health officials believe the picker had the illness before entering New Zealand.

A risk assessment has been undertaken by Toi Te Ora Public Health Service, and MAF food safety officials, and although the risk that any fruit is affected is extremely low, Zespri has taken the precautionary measure of containing any fruit that may have come into contact with the affected worker.

Zespri says it has a highly sophisticated supply chain with quality traceability systems and this has allowed the company to quickly, identify the location of fruit and isolate it.

As a result around 100,000 trays of export kiwifruit have been withdrawn from the supply chain and options to dispose of it are being worked through.

This represents less than 0.1 percent of exports, as this year Zespri expects to export over 100 million trays of kiwifruit.

Zespri is confident that the withdrawn fruit will not be made available for consumption in its markets.

The kiwifruit exporter and marketer will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities to monitor the situation and report any updates.