Leading New Zealand supermarket chain Countdown has withdrawn a brand of Australian strawberries from sale as a precautionary measure, after needles were found in a punnet of Choice brand strawberries sourced from Western Australia and  bought in a Countdown supermarket in Auckland. Says the company,  “At Countdown we take food safety very seriously and we have withdrawn any remaining Choice strawberries from sale from Countdown, SuperValue and FreshChoice supermarkets while we investigate this with our suppliers. As an extra precaution and following similar advice from public health authorities in Australia, customers should cut up any Australian strawberries before eating them. There have been no reports of any illness or injury in New Zealand.  The strawberries affected by this withdrawal have not previously had any issues of this nature reported and had not been withdrawn from sale in Australia. Countdown is in contact with both New Zealand and Australian authorities as they investigate this matter.”

Countdown and another leading New Zealand food distributor, Foodstuffs have  now stopped importing strawberries from Australia in response to the scare, which began in Queensland, with the first public reporting of contamination on 12 September.  

Meanwhile, there have been over 100 reports of needles being found in supermarket fruit in Australia, although some of these are believed to have been ‘copycat’ contaminations. Woolworths Australia, Countdown’s parent company, has withdrawn needles from sale as a “precautionary step”.

Last week the Australian government last week raised the maximum prison sentence for fruit tampering from 10 to 15 years, offering a reward of A$100,000 (£55,000; $72,000) for anyone able to offer information. Health minister Greg Hunt has also ordered the national food safety watchdog to look into the handling of the strawberry contamination.

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