Needle found in fruit

Strawberries have been pulled from the shelves of a Timaru supermarket after the discovery of a needle.

Foodstuffs NZ has pulled strawberries from Pak’N Save Timaru after a local woman found a needle inside a strawberry.

The discovery is the latest in a string of disturbing incidents involving needles in fruit, including a needle found inside a strawberry in a punnet purchased at FreshChoice supermarket in Geraldine.

Foodstuffs NZ spokeswoman Antoinette Laird said: “We are aware of an issue with a customer finding a foreign object in a punnet of strawberries purchased at one of our stores in Timaru.

“Remaining product has since been removed from sale. We have a very robust process in place.”

Laird said they were liaising with the police and MPI directly regarding this and were unable to comment further.

“Customer safety is our No 1 priority and we encourage all customers to contact stores directly should they ever encounter a tampering issue with a product,” she said.

A police spokesperson confirmed police received a report on Monday afternoon regarding a needle in a strawberry in Timaru, and are working together with MPI on the matter.

An MPI New Zealand food safety spokesperson confirmed that.