Strawberries, a banana and now an apple – is our fruit no longer safe?
Two of New Zealand’s major supermarket chains have halted the distribution of strawberries from Australia after sewing needles were found in Queensland-grown crops. Now, new reports of needles being found in a banana and apple in a Sydney supermarket.
Contaminated strawberries have now reportedly been found in all six states, and the Australian government has ordered a federal investigation into the incident.
On Tuesday, new reports surfaced that a woman found a needle inside an apple she bought from a Woolworths supermarket in Sydney. The Seven Network on Tuesday reported the needle was found in a six-pack of Pink Lady apples purchased from a supermarket at The Ponds in northest Sydney. This after a needle was found in a banana in an undisclosed Australian location.
As the probe continues it is not yet clear if the incidents are all linked.
The Science Media Council has asked a supply chain expert how far-reaching this sort of food tampering can be, and what New Zealand and Australia can do to protect our borders.
Professor Nigel Grigg, Professor of Quality Systems, Massey University, says “As the 2013 horse meat scandal in Europe and Ireland revealed, the more complex and internationalised a supply chains becomes, the harder it is to have effective control over what happens to the product as it travels within the chain.”
He goes on to say that as a product moves in a complex path from grower/processor to exporter to shipping company to retailer to customer, there is ample opportunity for individuals who are so inclined to deliberately taint a product.
“Wilful sabotage and illegal behaviour is almost impossible to guard against, since inventive individuals can potentially adulterate product with metal, glass, wood, biological or chemical hazards and contaminants – past examples having included dead animals and bodily fluids.
“Food ‘terrorism’ and illegal behaviour in national and international supply chains is not new and remains an ever-present threat. Consumer vigilance will always have to play a significant role.”
