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 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. 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. 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. 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. “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.” Handasyde said he had paid AU$20,000 (£11,000) for a metal detector for his berry farm. 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. 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. “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 MondaySeven 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. 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. The government of Queensland state has offered an AU$100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible. 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. 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.<doc-sep>A $100,000 reward has been offered for information on the Queensland strawberry saboteur amid fears six brands across four states have been targeted with needle insertion. Fruit sold under Berry Obsession, Berry Licious and Donnybrook brands have been affected, while New South Wales police warn fruit sold under the Love Berry, Delightful Strawberries and Oasis brands were inserted with needles by a possible copycat. The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has issued the reward over concerns for growers as well as consumers. “How could any right-minded person want to put a baby or a child or anybody’s health at risk by doing such a dreadful act?,” Palaszczuk told reporters on Saturday. “This is putting families’ lives at risk and it’s also putting the strawberry industry at risk. We need to catch those responsible.” In a statement late Friday, NSW police said: “As the products have yet to be forensically examined, it is unknown if the contamination is related to the original Queensland incident or a copycat.” Products sold under those labels have been pulled from shelves but it is unclear just how big the health issue has become with punnets being sold across Australia. Empty shelves, normally stocked with strawberry punnets, are seen at a Coles in Brisbane on Friday. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP A health warning to throw out or cut up strawberries remains in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia as authorities hunt those responsible. “We’ve got to look at this as a whole, it’s a very, very broad picture and we can’t speculate in any way, shape or form,” Queensland Acting Chief Superintendent Terry Lawrence told reporters on Friday. He says there is no link between the Donnybrook berry contamination and the Berry Obsession and Berry Licious cases. On Thursday, Queensland police announced they were also investigating a suspected copycat incident after a metal rod was discovered on top of strawberries inside a plastic punnet at Coles in Gatton.<doc-sep>THE Queensland Government has confirmed an incident where a “metal object” was reported to be in a banana was mental health-related. It had been reported police were investigating a case when questioned about it during an unrelated press conference with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. The news comes in the wake of needles found in strawberries across the country, plunging the industry into chaos and sparking consumer panic. Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart confirmed officers were investigating an incident but did not go into detail. In a later statement, police said a 62-year-old woman was assisting police in Maryborough with their inquiries. “Police are confident no other products were contaminated in this alleged incident. It is also being treated as an isolated incident without any links to other food contamination investigations.” A spokesman for the Premier clarified a person with a mental health issue allegedly put the object in the banana. The government made clear the case was unrelated to the strawberry issue. It follows the extraordinary strawberry sabotage saga, which has spread overseas as the search for the culprit turns into a nationwide manhunt. A New Zealand supermarket chain has stopped selling Australian strawberries as the strawberry needle scare widens. Needles or pins have been found by consumers in six states and territories: NSW, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. Queensland Police are leading an investigation into the source of the needles, and the state government has stumped up a reward of $100,000 for anyone with information that leads to the capture of the culprits.<doc-sep>The Australian strawberry scare has spread to New Zealand with a supermarket chain announcing Sunday that needles were found in a box of the fruit sourced from the neighbouring country. The Countdown supermarket chain said it had taken a brand of Australian strawberries off the shelves after a sabotaged punnet - a plastic box - was sold in an Auckland store. The strawberries, from Western Australia state, were sold in Countdown stores nationwide last week and only one incident of tampering was reported. "We take food safety very seriously," the company said in a statement, adding it was in touch with authorities investigating incidents of needles found in strawberries in Australia in recent weeks. "Customers can return any Choice brand of strawberries they may have at home to Countdown for peace of mind and a full refund." Countdown advised customers to cut up any Australian strawberries before eating them. The statement said there have been no reports of any illness or injury in New Zealand. It added that the brand of strawberries affected by this withdrawal "have not previously had any issues of this nature reported and had not been withdrawn from sale in Australia". In Australia, more than 100 alleged incidents of pins and needles found in fruit have been reported since the scare began in Queensland state earlier this month.<doc-sep>
A $100,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for deliberately putting needles in strawberries in Queensland. Police are warning people to slice the fruit before eating it amid fears six brands of strawberries in Australia have been contaminated with needles and pins. Strawberries sold under the Berry Obsession, Berry Licious and Donnybrook Berries brands have already been recalled – and it is now believed the Love Berry, Delightful Strawberries and Oasis brands may also have been contaminated by a copycat. Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has offered a reward of 100,000 Australian dollars (£54,742) for information about those responsible for the contaminated fruit, which is believed to have originated at a Queensland-based supplier. “Someone is trying to sabotage the industry but also in doing that, they are putting babies’ and children’s and families’ lives at risk,” she said. Police have urged consumers to take any potentially contaminated fruit to their local police station. “As the products have yet to be forensically examined, it is unknown if the contamination is related to the original Queensland incident or a copycat,” New South Wales (NSW) Police said in a statement on Friday. “Police are urging anyone who has purchased contaminated product to take the punnet to their local police station immediately for triage and forensic examination.” The warning came after a contaminated punnet was reported by Joshua Gane, who wrote in a Facebook post that a 21-year-old friend had suffered “severe abdominal pain”. Queensland Health said it was safe to purchase strawberries but that people should cut up all strawberries before consuming them. Queensland is a major strawberry producer in a national industry worth more than 130 million Australian dollars a year. Woolworths Group has removed all the affected brands from shelves in its supermarkets, but continues to sell other varieties of the fruit. Strawberry prices have dropped around the country. ABC News reported on Saturday that wholesale prices had halved to $0.50 per punnet below the cost of production in western Australia, where strawberries crops are now peaking, with growers forced to dump tonnes of the fruit. Additional reporting by Reuters