Customers at a Woolworths store in Golden Grove in Adelaide’s northeast discovered needles and thumbtacks in fresh produce in recent weeks, according to AAP.
Between June 27 and July 1, needles were found in a punnet of strawberries and in an avocado, and thumbtacks were found in a loaf of bread, AAP reported.
Detectives are investigating the matter as the incidents appear to be deliberate acts, the police said on Monday. Woolworths said that it also investigating the situation with the help of suppliers.
The supermarket giant opened and inspected the rest of the stock in the batch but found no further product safety concerns. There have been no reported injuries from the food contamination.
In 2018, police were called in to investigate an incident in which a number of fruits contained sewing needles. A former Queensland strawberry farm employee was charged in court in Brisbane for seven counts of contamination of goods – between September 2 to 5.
In January 2019, another fruit needle scare hit Australia when a couple from Melbourne found two small needles in a bag of grapes they bought at Woolworths.
