Needles in strawberry scare in Australia
PUBLIC fears about sewing needles concealed inside strawberries on supermarket shelves have spread across Australia and New Zealand as growers turn to metal detectors and the Australian government launches an investigation to restore public confidence in the popular fruit.
The government of Queensland state, where the contamination scare started last week, offered a 100,000 Australian dollar (US$72,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for inserting needles into strawberries after six brands — Donnybrook Berries, Love Berry, Delightful Strawberries, Oasis, Berry Obsession and Berry Licious — were recalled.
The scare had spread across the nation yesterday, with needles found in strawberries in all six Australian states. No injuries have been reported.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt ordered the national food safety watchdog to investigate Queensland’s handling of the needle scare.
He directed Food Standards Australia New Zealand to investigate whether there are supply chain weaknesses that need to be fixed.
Strawberries off the shelf
Both of New Zealand’s major food distributors, Foodstuffs and Countdown, announced yesterday they are taking Australian strawberries off their shelves because of the scare.
New Zealand imports Australian strawberries when they are out of season locally from April to September, and both chains say the product will be in the supermarket soon.
Queensland Strawberry Growers Association vice president Adrian Schultz said what had started as a single act of “commercial terrorism” had brought a multimillion-dollar industry to its knees.
“I’m angry for all the associated people, it’s the farmers, the people who supply them, the packaging people, the truckies with families to support, who suddenly lose their jobs. It’s farreaching,” Schultz said.
Major Australian supermarket chains Coles and Aldi have pulled all strawberries from their shelves across Australia except in Western Australia state as a precaution. But Western Australia police announced that the first suspected needle contamination case has been reported in locally grown fruit.
The report came after a 7-yearold girl in South Australia state found a needle in a Western Australia-grown strawberry on Saturday.