Another Riverina student has discovered a needle in their fruit, bringing the local tally to two this week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A Yanco Public School student’s close call, where a sewing needle was found inside a strawberry in a home-packed lunchbox on Tuesday, has been repeated in Wagga the following day.
Both students were unharmed, according to officers, who reminded parents to cut up their children’s fruit before giving it to them to eat.
Investigations into both incidents are ongoing as NSW Police ramps up efforts to find the culprit.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith on Wednesday announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of anyone who has contaminated fruit in NSW.
The shock announcement about the mass contamination was made last week, with six brands of strawberries having been affected by what was believed to be a purposeful act in Queensland.
There have now been more than 20 cases of pins or needles found in strawberries reported across NSW, according to police.
So far, punnets from the brands Berry Obsession, Berry Licious, Love Berry, Donnybrook Berries, Delightful Strawberries, and Oasis have been impacted.
Investigators believe copycats may have been behind the latest discoveries of isolated contamination in other fruits, including bananas and apples.
Supermarkets are working with authorities to remove all affected stock and any customer who has purchased strawberries of the potentially impacted brands is urged to cut the fruit before consuming.
On Wednesday it was announced Woolworths had pulled all sewing needles from the shelves as a safety precaution, according to Fairfax Media.
"We’ve taken the precautionary step of temporarily removing sewing needles from sale in our stores," a spokeswoman said.
"The safety of our customers is our top priority."
In response to inquiries, Coles announced it had no plans to follow suit.
The supermarket giant said it would instead continue to focus on making sure its product was effectively screened before it hit shelves.
In NSW the maximum penalty for deliberately contaminating a food source is 10 years in jail. Anyone with information is urged to come forward and call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Read more
While you're with us, did you know that you can now receive updates straight to your inbox every Monday at 6am from The Area News? To make sure you're up to date with all the Griffith and MIA news you can sign up here.