Fruit rush a return of confidence

STRAWBERRIES are flooding back on to supermarket shelves this weekend as Australians begin to regain confidence in the healthy ruit.

Woolworths will place strawberries front and centre in their stores today, while farming associations and nutritionists are calling for Aussies to simply chop up the fruit before serving it to support our struggling growers.

These moves to encourage Aussies to start eating the popular fruit again come after a man in South Australia became the first person charged over the needle saga and the contamination spread to the Northern Territory.

South Australian Police said yesterday a 34-year-old Adelaide man had been charged after allegedly falsely reporting his daughter had found a needle inside a strawberry last week.

The arrest comes as the hunt for those responsible for sticking needles in strawberries continues, and the federal government ramps up penalties for so-called “food terrorists”.

Darwin has become the latest area affected, with a supermarket shopper discovering a needle inside a strawberry.

Food tamperers could spend 10 to 15 years behind bars under draft laws passed by the government on Thursday.

Woolworths head of produce Paul Turner said extra staff would be on hand this weekend in the produce sections of his stores around the country to support farmers and reassure the public.

“Queensland strawberries will be front and centre in our store merchandising plans this weekend,” he said. “We’ll have hundreds of extra team members in our produce aisles across the country this weekend passing on this message in support of growers.”