Strawberries with needles has gone trans-Tasman with first report from New Zealand
NSW police say they are being flooded with reported cases of fruit tampering across the state, but this is only the tip of the iceberg for the strawberry needle saga.
NSW
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AUSTRALIA’S fruit needle sabotage epidemic has crossed the ditch with a needle found in strawberries in New Zealand as NSW police say they are being flooded with reported cases of tampering across the state.
A shopper at an Auckland supermarket found the needle in a punnet of strawberries that had come from Western Australia.
The supermarket chain Countdown, which is owned by Australia’s Woolworths, has withdrawn all Aussie-grown strawberries from sale as a precautionary measure.
The company’s decision to withdraw Australian strawberries from sale follows a similar move from the rival Foodstuffs retailer.
No injuries were reported
Police in NSW are investigating more than 50 cases of fruit contamination, while there have been more than 100 alleged fruit sabotage cases involving strawberries, bananas, apples and mangoes, across five Australian states since the first incident was recorded in Queensland on September 9.
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NSW police said they had been inundated with reports of fruits being spiked with needles and also believed some incidents of tampered fruit may be going unreported.
In the latest incident in Sydney police said a woman discovered a needle on Saturday in a punnet of strawberries she purchased from a fruit market in a southern suburb.
A Central Coast Coles customer bought a mango and discovered a needle embedded inside it last week.
Authorities believe many cases are the work of copycats or are hoaxes.
A young Melbourne girl became the latest victim of tampered fruit yesterday when she discovered a needle in a pink lady apple she was eating.
Her father Antony Begovic said the apple had been purchased from a Coles supermarket in the Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe.
The emergence of a sabotage scare in NZ is the latest blow for Australian fruit growers, who have been grappling with a dramatic slump in demand.
As the crisis deepens at least two minors have so far been questioned by police but authorities are still struggling to find the original culprit as the spate of copycat episodes threaten to bring the industry to its knees.
An Adelaide father has been charged with making false claims his daughter ate a contaminated strawberry.
Food tamperers could spend 10 to 15 years behind bars under laws passed by parliament on Thursday.