Strawberry needle crisis: Woolworths pulls sewing needles from sale
- by Shawn Tate
- in Economy
- — Sep 23, 2018
Those who engage in hoaxes on the topic could face up to 10 years in prison.
NSW police have arrested a young boy for inserting needles into strawberries as a prank. Berries with metal needles, sold in local stores, provoked panic across the country.
Police in New South Wales said a "young person" has admitted putting needles in strawberries as a copycat prank and will be dealt with under the youth cautioning system.
The report came after a 7-year-old girl in South Australia state found a needle in a Western Australia-grown strawberry on Saturday. Subsequently, the berries with needles began to fall and residents of other States.
EARLIER: Police have confirmed reports of a needle being found inside a banana bought at a Cairns store. These cases are quickly triggered panic among buyers, and among fruit producers.
Australia's Department of Health ordered a review into the handling of strawberries after fruit containing sewing needles was found in supermarkets across the country.
Reported that some manufacturers were forced to destroy the entire crop of berries after the news of the needles.
"He did not recall the needle being in the sink prior to preparing the strawberries".
Many Australian politicians and users of social networks actively defended the fruit industry of the country.
The action with the hashtag #SmashAStrawb also joined the Premier of Western Australia mark McGowan.
As farmers reeled from the crisis, the federal government intervened on Wednesday, announced a $1m support package for the industry in addition to the tough new penalties.
Now, according to The Star, the Ministry of Health has stated that they are imposing checks on all strawberries imported from Australia to ensure that none of the strawberries entering our shores has been affected. Two strawberry contamination cases have also occurred in Hobart.
Six strawberry brands have been recalled nationally.
The fruit scare has been given a national and worldwide profile by new Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has addressed it publicly several times in the last few days.
Responding to the scare, Morrison said his government would seek to increase the maximum jail term to 15 years from 10 years for anyone convicted of tampering with food. "The full weight of the law should be thrown at people", Labor frontbencher Tony Burke told Sky News.
"It's not a joke it's not amusing".
