Strawberry needle pressure: alarms sound for the food industry – ABC Rural

The food industry has been shocked by what appears to be an industrial sabotage of strawberries and will have to look for a way to prevent sabotage.

Nine years ago confirmed cases of strawberries found with needles in them and a consumer was hospitalized.

Consumers reported close shaves with their children and an imitation case appeared in another Queensland store.

The latest reported incidents were the discovery of needles in three strawberries in a single net, purchased by a client from Coles in Engadine in southern Sydney and on Sunday, the South Australian police opened an investigation after finding a needle from A supermarket in the hills of Adelaide.

Police are also investigating a claim that strawberries contaminated with needles were found Sunday at a supermarket in Hobart.

Contamination of strawberries with sewing needles is likely to force the food industry to take a new approach to protect its products from interference.

Systems must evolve

Dr. Kim Phan-Thien, lecturer in Food Science and at the University of Sydney, said the industry was not prepared for this type of intentional contamination.

"What we usually worry about is accidental contaminants, spray drift or microbial contamination [which is] a natural hazard in the production system ".

She said the risk control systems of the industry should evolve to include vulnerability and threats.

"Not just looking for unintentional adulteration and contaminants, but intentional adulteration for economic gain, malicious motive or a form of terrorism."

She said the sector would consider how to respond to this case.

"An event like this will cause people to think about moving that way, to assess if you are likely to be a target and how well you will be prepared if you are."

There are already metal detectors in the food manufacturing plants, but they are there to pick up things like metal shavings that have been removed from the equipment used in the processing.

There have been other cases of food contamination around the world, including disgruntled employees contaminating irrigation water or putting needles into buns, but Dr. Phan-Thien has said that it was unusual.

"It's very rare, I can not think of a case like this in Australia, especially when it comes to a method that harms people."

She also warned consumers and the industry not to react too much.

"We should not doubt the whole system.

Sabotage to mitigate

Anthony Kachenko of the Hort Innovation Australia Industrial Research and Development Organization said he has invested $ 10 million in food security projects in the last five years

But he said that it was difficult to mitigate the sabotage and that there was no doubt that it was an isolated incident.

"Australia is proud of its safe, wholesome and nutritious products and we have the utmost confidence in the products we grow both domestically and in export markets," he said.

Michael and Kylie Cashen, hydroponic strawberry growers from Bidgee Strawberries and Cream in Wagga.

"It's a tragedy to see an isolated incident like this, especially with industries that are very proactive and are doing everything in their power to deal with such challenges."

He said the ramifications would be felt across the country, at a time when the season was reaching its peak with a strong supply on the market.

Choose your own option

Meanwhile, a strawberry company in the Riverina said the recent food contamination alert could push more people to choose their own fruit.

Michael and Kylie Cashen are developing a hydroponic strawberry farm in Wagga Wagga as an agritourism project.

They are only a few months away from their first harvest and they think that the damage done to the industry by falsifying strawberries will be short-lived.