Over 100 detected instances of intentionally contaminated fruit in Australia

Strawberry needle contamination: Australian Federal Police and Border Force investigating


Australian farmers and consumers are currrently facing off against a potential crisis as increasing amounts of fruit from supermarkets have been found to contain portions of sewing needles which have been maliciously inserted somewhere in the supply line. The situation was initially isolated to Strawberries which were produced and purchased in one particular state but has since spread to other states and types of fruit. There have been no serious injuries yet, but the damage to farmers has been immense as consumers have been deterred by the threat. Thousands of tones of berries have been discarded, acres of unpicked plants destroyed (its no longer economically viable to pick fruit that no one will purchase) and hundreds of people have lost their jobs. The majority of cases so far have involved strawberries but cases involving banannas and apples have also been reported.


There has been some measures undertaken to try and mitigate the situation but it has been difficult because no one knows the source or motive behind the needles and it seems likely that some of the reports made have been fabricated or initiated by idiotic copy cats. Producers have installed metal detectors and sealed packaging to try and alleviate consumer concerns but people are still concerned because we haven't been able to establish which stage of the supply chain is being compromised. Harsher penalties have been also been instated, increasing the maximum sentence from 10 to 15 years. This doesn't seem like it will be an effective measure because the existing penalty was already stiff relative to any perceived potential gain by the guilt individual/s and it will be extremely difficult to catch people in the act, imo.

Most of the people i have spoken to about this issue haven't seem too concerned and some short sighted consumers seem to view this as a boon because it has drastically slashed the price of the fruit. But im personally scared #less by these headlines. I have always taken the integrity of food stuffs for granted. The biggest concern i have here is that we have no idea who is doing this, or why. There is every chance that the situation was spawned by a sick anti social individual, as a prank or malicious act, which was then copied by other liked minded sicko's (a scary enough scenario itself) but there is also the unspoken prospect that it is an intentionally malicious act which is being carried out by a coordinated group with purposful intent.

Entertain the thought of the worst case possibility here for a moment. If terrorists continously inserted items into our food supply then it would be a very costly scenario which would be very diffcult to encounter. Imagine a world where every food item you bought was pre scanned for contaminates or poisons. The cost of foodstuff would rise enormously and i feel that deterimental to human relations to exist in such a distrustful environment. I almost feel as though i shouldn't be posting this incase the wrong sort of sicko reads it but i also feel its an imporant discussion that we should probably be having. The security of our food is an essential concern which should not be taken for granted but seems almost impossible to counter. Are there any alternatives besides reverting back to personal production, installing cameras at all stages of the food chain or scanning every item of food to ensure its integrity? Would love to hear some alternative takes on this that could alleviate my concerns because im honestly scared of # of the potential prospect as it stands.

a reply to: JaredCondon

This is really scary. And how can it be so far spreading so fast? It has to be a whole group of people which makes it harder to get them all. But why would someone do this at all? There wasn't any blackmailing involved?
This is crazy.

What a cowardly thing to do. I hope the culprit is found/punished to the full extent of the law but the damage to society has already been done, can't unring that bell.

I grew up in the Chicago area, in 1982 tylenol poisoning killed several people. That incident was a game changer.

How the Tylenol murders of 1982 changed the way we consume medication

So much of what we do/how we live depends on the honor system. Crimes so heinous they forever change the way society functions should receive no less than life/death sentences.

This really ticks me off. Not only do I hate seeing food being wasted, but intentionally sabotaging to injure or kill people? Vile creatures. I hope they are caught (Unlikely).

It's just a shame that the punishment isn't just. Callous things like this (terrorism I would say) deserves only one punishment.

And I think we all know what that is.

sounds like one of the old haloween storys messed up its real in this case

why needles and not poision whoever is doing this wants people to be scared