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A 50-year-old woman was arrested in Australia for triggering a national panic of food contamination involving strawberries with hidden needles.
Needles were found by consumers in September. On the 12th of this month, someone found himself in the hospital after swallowing a half needle while eating a strawberry bought at a Woolworths store north of Brisbane. What followed resulted in the collapse of the wholesale price of strawberries in Australia.
Dozens of others were found and chains such as Coles, Aldi and Woolworths removed the strawberries from their shelves. The latter also temporarily pulled the sewing needles for good measure. Many strawberries were destroyed. A total of 230 reports of contamination were reported.
My Ut Trinh, a former supervisor of one of the affected farms, Berrylicious, was arrested on Saturday. On Monday, she appeared in the Brisbane Court of First Instance, where magistrate Christine Roney said Trinh had apparently put the needles into strawberries to get revenge on her boss for something.
According to local sources, Trinh reportedly told people that she wanted to shoot down her employers and "bankrupt them." His DNA was found in one of the contaminated trays.
Trinh has been charged with seven counts of food contamination and may be sentenced to up to ten years' imprisonment if found guilty. The Queensland Growers Association, which includes strawberry producers among its members, said imitating offenders should also be charged.
