Fears in Australia and New Zealand have emerged in concerns with food safety. This is after a sewing needle was discovered in a strawberry.
The two countries have launched investigations and so far six different strawberry producers products has been recalled. The scare started last week in the state of Queensland and later spread. Reports emerged of needles found in strawberries in 6 different Australian states.
Associated Press reports that the Australian Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt ordered the national food safety watchdog to investigate Queensland’s handling of the needle scare.
He called for Food Standards to investigate whether there supply malfunctions on their part that need to be resolved.
“The job is very, very clear. Protect the public and keep them safe,” Hunt told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
#BREAKING: The strawberry sabotage threat is intensifying, after a New South Wales mother found four needles hidden in a punnet. #9News pic.twitter.com/JX2S3KxjRd
— Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) September 14, 2018
There have been unverified reports of an Australian man alerting police, after he found in a needle in his sin while washing strawberries and a 7-year-old girl who this weekend found a needle in “a Western Australian-grown strawberry. it is not yet known whether these reports are true or merely a social media hoax.
Strawberry producers have now invested in metal detectors in order to scan their produce before packaging and delivering to supermarkets.
