Another needle found in supermarket strawberry

A needle has been found in a strawberry bought from a Tauranga supermarket. Foodstuffs NZ spokeswoman Antoinette Laird said the company was aware of an issue with a pin or needle being found in a punnet of strawberries bought at one of its Pak ‘N Save Tauranga stores. ‘‘The remaining product has since been removed from the store’s shelves,’’ Laird said. ‘‘Customer safety is our number one priority and we encourage all customers to contact stores directly should they ever encounter a tampering issue with a product.’’ Foodstuffs was liaising with the authorities and was unable to comment further, she said. Police confirmed they had received a report of a needle in a strawberry. The matter had been referred to MPI, a statement said. Last month, a needle was found inside a strawberry in a punnet purchased at FreshChoice in Geraldine, in South Canterbury. A FreshChoice spokesperson said at the time Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) was notified, and as precaution all strawberries were removed from the supermarket. In September, more than one needle was found in a punnet of Australian-sourced strawberries bought in Auckland. The cases follow several incidents of people finding needles in their fruit in Australia.