Adelaide man charged over strawberry contamination claim
AN ADELAIDE father has been charged with making a false report after claiming his daughter bit into a strawberry containing a sewing needle.
AN ADELAIDE father has been charged with making a false report after claiming his daughter bit into a strawberry containing a sewing needle.
The 34-year-old Paradise man told police on September 17 that his daughter had bitten into a contaminated strawberry bought from a north-eastern suburbs supermarket.
Police investigated the claims and arrested the man on Friday.
He was charged with making a false report to police and falsely claiming goods had been contaminated.
The man was bailed to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in October.
“Police wish to advise the public that serious penalties apply for making false claims to police, in particular, in relation to recent fruit contamination,” a police spokeswoman said.
As reported in The Advertiser today, police are also investigating if a man who reported a case alleged strawberry sabotage at a Mid North supermarket planted needles and safety pins in the fruit himself.
A Mid North man claimed he found two needles in a punnet of Queensland strawberries sold at a supermarket in Jamestown.
He stated he then found a safety pin in a replacement punnet given to him by the store.
It is now believed the man is suspected of placing the items in the fruit himself.
It came as police continue their investigations into an incident of alleged strawberry contamination at an Adelaide Hills supermarket.
A seven-year-old girl bit into a needle-infested strawberry bought from Klose’s Foodland in Littlehampton on Sunday morning.
The punnet of Mal’s Black Label strawberries was bought on Saturday.
The girl was not injured in the incident.
And an Aberfoyle Park mother found a needle in a strawberry as she prepared the fruit for her 15-month-old son on Monday.
She bought the punnet from Adelaide Fresh Fruiterers.