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Australian police say needle found in banana as strawberry sabotage spreads Strawberry sabotage scare spreads to all six Australian states
(about 4 hours later)
Queensland police are still unsure if the sabotage devastating the nation’s strawberry industry is the work of a single person or several people acting independently. The strawberry contamination scare in Australia, which has caused supermarkets to recall brands and farmers to dump fruit, has spread to all six of the country’s states, police have said.
The crisis is spreading after metal needles were found in strawberries in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. The supermarket chains Coles and Aldi had pulled strawberries from their shelves across Australia except in Western Australia, and on Monday police in that state said a suspected case had been identified there.
Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said the investigation was complicated by the vast web of supply chains where the strawberries are produced and shipped to. A man in the town of York reported to police that he had found a needle in a sink after washing strawberries. The incident came after a seven-year-old girl in South Australia state found a needle in a Western Australia-grown strawberry on Saturday.
“There is a range of really complex scenarios which could play out here, and we’re looking at all of them, and that’s what’s taking the time,” he said on Monday. A 62-year-old woman was caught putting a needle into a banana in Mackay, central Queensland, in what is believed to have been a copycat act.
The investigation was complicated further when a 62-year-old woman was caught putting a needle into a banana in central Queensland, in an apparent copycat act. It’s understood that the woman, caught at a shop in Mackay, has mental health issues. Neil Handasyde, president of the Strawberry Growers Association of Western Australia, said growers had received requests from retailers and insurance companies to scan fruit for needles.
In a statement police said they were treating it as an isolated incident without any links to other food contamination investigations. “As an industry, we are sure that [the needles] are not coming from the farm, but we’re trying to get confidence into consumers that when they buy … strawberries, that there isn’t going to be anything other than strawberries in there and they’re safe to eat,” he told ABC. “[We] are looking at lots of different ways of tackling this issue. There’s been metal detectors purchased and tamper-proof packaging looked at.”
The Queensland agriculture minister, Mark Furner, met with strawberry growers nervous about their future as the number of needle contamination cases grows to 10 and New Zealand food distributors remove Australian strawberries from their shelves. Handasyde said he had paid AU$20,000 (£11,000) for a metal detector for his berry farm.
Vice president of the Queensland Strawberry Growers Association, Adrian Schultz, says what started with a single “act of commercial terrorism” has now brought a multi-million-dollar industry to its knees, with jobs beyond the growers now likely to be lost. New Zealand’s main food distributors, Foodstuffs and Countdown, announced on Monday that they were taking Australian strawberries off their shelves, in a further blow to growers.
“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 far-reaching,” he told ABC radio on Monday. Adrian Schultz, the vice-president of the Queensland Strawberry Growers Association, said what had started as a single act of “commercial terrorism” had brought a multimillion-dollar industry to its knees.
Growers met with Furner on Sunday to discuss the commercial effects of the contamination that began at a southeast Queensland farm eight days ago. “I’m angry for all the associated people – it’s the farmers, the people who supply them, the packaging people, the truckies [truck drivers] – with families to support, who suddenly lose their jobs … it’s far-reaching,” he told ABC radio on Monday
Furner says industry-specific assistance packages are being considered but no plan will be made until an understanding of the “complete effect” of the sabotage is understood. Seven brands are believed to have been contaminated, according to police reports. Consumers in Queensland were the first to report finding needles in strawberries. Police in the state, who are leading the investigation, are still unsure whether the sabotage is the work of a single person or several people acting independently.
“We won’t be coming up with any half-baked outcomes ... we need to listen to what is required,” he said. Ian Stewart, the Queensland police commissioner, said the investigation was complicated by the vast web of supply chains. “There is a range of really complex scenarios which could play out here and we’re looking at all of them, and that’s what’s taking the time,” he said.
There are around 150 commercial strawberry growers in Queensland. The government of Queensland state has offered an AU$100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible.
Furner said a variety of generic government assistance packages were available and these would be offered to growers. Growers met the state agriculture minister, Mark Furner on Sunday to discuss the commercial effects of the contamination, which began at a south-east Queensland farm eight days ago.
He said many growers were already experiencing economic stresses before the contamination began due to an oversupply of fruit, which had led to retail prices for a punnet falling to around $1.50. Queensland, home to about 150 commercial strawberry growers, is a major producer in a national industry worth more than AU$130m a year.
Furner said industry-specific assistance packages were being considered but no plan would be made until an understanding of the “complete effect” of the sabotage was understood.
Jamie Michael, of the Western Australia Strawberry Growers Association, told ABC his farm had dumped strawberries in the peak of the season and that if shoppers stayed away, some growers would not be able to afford to plant a crop for next year.
Crime - AustraliaCrime - Australia
Western Australia
Product recalls
QueenslandQueensland
FruitFruit
Food & drink industry
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