Australian police have found ‘sewing needles’ in strawberries in two more states broadening a health scare and forcing the companies and farmers to dump the fruit amid peak growing season.
Police further told that they received two separate reports about needles in the strawberries; one from a girl in South Australia and another from a man in Western Australia. According to police reports, 7 strawberries brands in Australia are now believed to be contaminated with needles and pins and hence people have been asked to slice the fruit before eating.
Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart on 17 September said it was not clear if the contamination was done by a single person acting or several people were separately doing it. Customers in Queensland had first reported about the needles embedded inside strawberries.
The two biggest supermarket chains in New Zealand have decided to stop Australian strawberry orders for the time being. Australian police informed that the infected fruit appeared to have originated at a Queensland-based supplier. The government of Queensland, where the contamination panic started last week has offered a 100,000 Australian dollar prize for giving any information regarding the person responsible for placing needles into strawberries.
Moreover, there have also been reports of bananas and apples being targeted with needles, creating more panic in the country.
