Australian strawberries from shelves in New Zealand after needles were found | News from the world

An Australian brand of strawberries was removed from sale in New Zealand after needles were found in a punnet sold in a Auckland supermarket.

The supermarket chain Countdown said that the Australian Choice brand was removed from the shelves.

"Customers can return any brand of Strawberry Choice that they can have at home in Countdown for peace of mind and a full refund," the supermarket said in a statement.

"As an extra precaution and following similar advice from Australian public health authorities, customers should cut all Australian strawberries before consuming them," the report says.

"Countdown is in contact with the New Zealand and Australian authorities as they investigate this case."

The Australian Choice brand has not been recalled in Australia, where more than 100 items have been falsified across the country.

The Queensland police is conducting the investigation and the Prime Minister, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is offering a $ 100,000 reward to anyone with information allowing the arrest of officials.

The Australian police suspect that many of the reports could be forgeries, or contamination by copies. A man in South Australia was facing a court on Monday accused of allegedly declaring that goods had been contaminated after he reportedly found a needle in a strawberry that his daughter ate.

The government passed the law last week increasing the penalty for food contamination to 10 to 15 years in prison.