Anyone who would put needles in strawberries is surely evil, or truly sick.
Yet it continues to happen in Australia, and now, New Zealand.
CNN reports a major New Zealand supermarket chain is removing Australian-brand Choice strawberries from shelves across the country after needles were found in a container of strawberries from Western Australia purchased in Auckland.
The announcement in New Zealand comes after at least 100 reports of needles being found in strawberries in Australia last week, CNN reports.
The report says sewing needles and pins have been found in all six Australian states, in at least six brands of strawberries.
The needles have caused panic in Australia and neighboring countries.
The BBC reports fears of copycat instances for other commodities, including isolated findings of needles in apples and bananas.
Government officials warn perpetrators, and those making false reports, face up to 10 years in jail.
Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued a strong video tweet about the crisis, urging consumers to support the industry and vowing the government will come after those responsible.
“Sabotaging our strawberries is sabotaging our farmers. It’s not right. It’s a crime.”
See here for the latest guidance from PMA Australia and New Zealand to the trade on the issue.
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In other news, check out the USDA revision to food at home estimates.
A bullet point from the report
The grocery store share of food at home expenditures declined from 71.4% to 58.4% between 1997 and 2017. While nominal (not adjusted for inflation) growth in grocery store sales averaged 2.4%t per year, prices at grocery stores grew at an average of 2.2% each year. Hence, real grocery store sales have largely been stagnant except for 2016 and 2017, when prices declined for the first time in several decades.
