Crime Sabotage? Terrorism? Needles are found inside strawberries sold across all 6 Australian states

[Arkain2K]

We've seen some really sick shit done to consumer products over the years, including the Kellogg worker who pissed on the cereal production line, but this here takes the cake.

What do you think this is? Sick pranks? Terrorism? Industrial sabotage?

Strawberry sabotage: Needles found in WA fruit sold at New Zealand supermarket
Sep 23, 2018

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Needles have been found in a punnet of Western Australian-grown strawberries sold at a supermarket in New Zealand.

The Countdown supermarket, a subsidiary of Woolworths, has withdrawn the Choice brand of fruit from sale and is advising customers to cut up strawberries before eating them.

The find follows the spate of contaminated fruit in Australia, which has seen more than 100 cases of sewing needles hidden in fruit reported across all six states.

"Countdown has withdrawn a brand of Australian strawberries from sale as a precautionary measure, and is advising customers to cut up strawberries before consuming them," a statement read.

"Needles were found in a punnet of strawberries sourced from Western Australia, which was bought in a Countdown supermarket in Auckland."

The supermarket said it would withdraw any remaining strawberries from the brand while it investigates.

Draft laws passed by the Australian government last week could see food tamperers jailed for up to 15 years.

"That's how seriously I take this," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

"This is not on. We will act to protect, and keep Australians safe.

"Mums and dads and kids have real concerns and fears.

"Some idiot has engaged in an act of sabotage.

"It's not a joke. It's not funny.

"You're putting the livelihoods of hard-working Australians at risk and you're scaring children.

"You're a coward and you're a grub.

"And if you do that sort of thing in this country we will come after you, and we will throw the book at you."

https://www.9news.com.au/2018/09/23...-crisis-needles-found-in-auckland-supermarket

 

[Arkain2K]

Strawberry sabotage akin to 'terrorism': Australia PM​

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SYDNEY: The tainting of supermarket strawberries with sewing needles is comparable to "terrorism", Australia's prime minister said Wednesday (Sep 19), as he demanded tougher sentencing in response to a nationwide scare.

Urging Australians to make a strawberry pavlova this weekend to help struggling farmers, Scott Morrison demanded a change in the law to put the perpetrators behind bars for 15 years.

"We're not mucking about," said Morrison, after at least 20 pieces of fruit were found to be contaminated with needles or pins. "This is not on, this is just not on in this country," he said.

Calling the perpetrator a "coward and a grub", Morrison called on parliament to quickly raise the maximum sentence for such deliberate food contamination from ten to 15 years behind bars.

That, he said, would put the crime on par with "things like possessing child pornography and financing terrorism. That's how seriously I take this".

The scare has prompted a slew of supermarket recalls, and some stores in New Zealand have temporarily banned the sale of Australian strawberries.

Farmers have been forced to pulp fruit and layoff pickers because of slower sales and lower wholesale prices.

"Just go back to buying strawberries like you used to, and take the precautions that you should," Morrison told Australians in a televised address.

"Make a pav this weekend and put strawberries on it," he suggested.

Authorities have suggested strawberries be cut up before they are eaten.

Australian police on Tuesday said they still did not know the motive behind the attacks and were still looking for suspects.

They have asked the public for help with their investigation and are expected later Wednesday to increase a reward for information that helps resolve the case.

The authorities have also complained that the vast majority of the 100 reported cases were hoaxes, and warned that pranksters posting images on Facebook claiming that they have discovered tainted fruit could also face prosecution and potential jail time.

Police in New South Wales said a "young person" has admitted putting needles in strawberries as a copycat prank and will be dealt with under the youth cautioning system.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...6?cid=h3_referral_inarticlelinks_24082018_cna

 

[Arkain2K]

Australians are changing the way they eat strawberries after more than 100 people found needles hidden inside them
Bill Bostock | Sep. 21, 2018

• Australia is in the grip of a bizarre crisis in which people keep finding needles hidden inside strawberries.
• Attempts by the police, supermarkets, and the Australian government to halt the phenomenon have so far come to nothing.
• As a result regular Australians are changing the way that they consume strawberries, so they can keep eating them without the risk of swallowing a needle.
• Some are using egg-slicers and blenders to slice the berries and uncover any hidden metal, or cooking with strawberry flesh instead of just eating it.
• Ideas are circulating under the cheery #SmashAStrawb hashtag.

People in Australia are so terrified of swallowing needles hidden in their strawberries, and have turned to other ways to eat them instead.

Since earlier in September, people have been finding sewing needles and other sharp metal objects hidden in fruit, including in apples, bananas, and a mango. Police have received over 100 reports of hidden needles so far.

Responses by companies, police, and politicians have so far failed to make much of a difference to the crisis.

As a result, ordinary Australians are coming up with ways to eat strawberries without biting into them and potentially ingesting a needle.

The response is partly motivated by a desire to help strawberry farmers, whose businesses have been hit badly by fears of hidden needles.

A popular Instagram post from personal trainer Yasmine Lintvelt showed her using an egg-slicer to cut up her strawberry so she could eat it in slices:



The #SmashAStrawb hashtag has also been trending in Australia. "Smash" here has a double meaning — the word is also Australian slang for eating lots of something, as well as literally smashing the fruit up.

A Twitter user under the name Wendy Wood posted images showing strawberry rum cocktails as an idea to get around the needle problem (her post is embedded above).

The National Party of Australia, which has its roots in farmers and the agricultural community, posted a popular cartoon urging people to "Cut 'em up. Don't cut 'em out."




https://www.businessinsider.com/aus...le-swap-eating-habits-to-avoid-needles-2018-9

 

[Arkain2K]

Needle found in mango in latest chapter of Australia fruit crisis
By Euan McKirdy, Ben Westcott and Simon Cullen, CNN | September 20, 2018​

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Australian police have confirmed that a mango was sold with a small needle in it, prompting fresh fears over the country's fruit.

A spokesman for police in New South Wales told CNN that a customer bought a mango with the sharp item inside it in West Gosford.

The announcement comes on the same day Australian retail giant Woolworths has temporarily pulled sewing needles from its stores after at least 100 reported cases of the objects being inserted into strawberries nationwide.

"We've taken the precautionary step of temporarily removing sewing needles from sale in our stores," Woolworths said in a statement. "The safety of our customers is our top priority."

Woolworths has also suspended sales of needles online, though they were still available on the website of Coles, its major competitor.

Needles were first reported in strawberries in the state of Queensland last week, but they've since been found in all six Australian states, in at least six brands. There are also isolated cases of needles in a banana and an apple.

Australia exports strawberries to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the UAE, among others. One big retailer in New Zealand has already withdrawn Australian strawberries from sale.

Some buyers in Russia and the UK have also blocked Australian imports, said Jennifer Rowlings from Queensland Strawberry, according to local media.

The Australian government has announced tougher penalties for food tampering, increasing the maximum prison term from 10 to 15 years.

By comparison, knowingly possessing child pornography and indecent assault both carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years in the state of Victoria, Australia's most densely populated state.

Many of the strawberry incidents are thought to be hoax or copycat attacks, including one carried out by a child who admitted the "prank" to police.

New South Wales Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said the child "will be dealt with under the youth cautioning system."

In New South Wales, criminal responsibility begins at the age of 10, but youth offenders can be granted a formal caution by police.

Tough penalties

"It's not a joke, it's not funny, you're putting the livelihoods of hard-working Australians at risk and you're scaring children," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Wednesday. "You're a coward and you're a grub and if you do that sort of thing in this country we will come after you."

Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin called on social media users who had posted staged images of contaminated fruit on their accounts to delete them.
"This isn't amusing in any way," he said, according to CNN affiliate 9 News.

Sales of some brands of strawberries have been suspended across the country. A statement on the Woolworth's commercial website states that the company has "temporarily withdrawn Berry Licious, Berry Obsession, and Donnybrook strawberries from sale following recent reports of contamination."

The Love Berry, Delightful Strawberries and Oasis brands have also been affected, 9 News reports.

Coles has also recalled strawberries from its stores, except in Western Australia, where it is selling them under the guidance of the authorities, according to 9 News. It still has its own-brand strawberries listed for sale online.

Strawberry sales suspended

Concern that local farmers will suffer as a result of the needle scare has prompted a viral, grassroots social media campaign urging Australians to #SmashAStrawb to support local growers.
"Smash" is an Australianism which means to eat or drink something enthusiastically or quickly.

"Western Australians, get behind our local industry. Slice them in half and #SmashAStrawb to help out our local growers today," Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said on his official Twitter.

According to a report carried out for the Australian Horticultural Exporters Association by Fresh Intelligence Consulting, fresh fruit and vegetable exports increased 3.4% to 1.2 billion AUD for the year ending June 2017.

Citing information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the report said strawberries make up 3% of the country's fruit export for the same time period.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/19/australia/australia-strawberry-sabotage-needles-intl/index.html

 

[hillelslovak87]

I miss the old days, when cutting child mouths was confined to Halloween.

 

[Neph]

I'm not sure how this is political so I'll just throw a cursory fuck Trump into the mix

 

[Arkain2K]

Australian strawberry crisis: Sewing needles have now been found in strawberries in all six Australian states

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A health warning remains in place to throw out or cut up strawberries across most of Australia after sewing needles were found in the fruit in all six states.

New Zealand has pulled the Australian strawberries from its supermarket shelves, as police investigate after metal needles were found in punnets of fruit across the country.

Nervous farmers fear a multimillion-dollar sabotage, with Queensland Strawberry Growers Association vice president Adrian Schultz blaming "commercial terrorism" for bringing the industry to its knees.

"I'm angry for all the associated people, it's the farmers, the people who supply them, the packaging people, the truckies with families to support, who suddenly lose their jobs ... it's far-reaching," he said.

A farmer in Queensland says he will install a metal detector to check his produce while others are destroying their crops, rather than pick them, to save money, The Courier-Mail reports.

Two contaminated punnets of Mal's Black Label strawberries have been found in separate towns outside Adelaide, with the latest in Morphett Vale.

The Mal's Black Label strawberries were grown in Western Australia, where a man yesterday reported to the York Police Station in regional WA that he'd found a needle in a punnet of strawberries.

The warning to throw out or cut up strawberries remains in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has ordered Food Standards Australia New Zealand to investigate whether there are supply chain weaknesses or systemic changes needed.

Coles supermarkets have pulled all strawberries from their shelves, except Western Australia, as a precaution.

Aldi supermarkets are returning non-contaminated strawberry brands to their shelves.

Berry Obsession, Berry Licious and Donnybrook Berries have recalled their strawberries nationwide.

Foodstuffs and Countdown, which are owned by Woolworths and control nearly the entire New Zealand grocery market, yesterday announced they had stopped sending out Australian strawberries to their stores.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/wor...now-been-found-in-strawberries-all-six-states

 

[tonni]

The thought of biting in a strawberry and getting a needle through my tongue/ceiling of my mouth is giving me shivers.

 

[Arkain2K]

 

[Nooob]

It's a big news here, everyone's been talking about this for weeks non-stop.

It is 100% terrorism but there are already people using the "mental illness" card to get away with it and sheeps are falling for it.

Disgusting.

 

[MarloStanfield]

Its fucking terrorism is what it is, plain and simple, stop immigration!!!

 

[Ruprecht]

Unfathomable that people would copycat this sort of thing.
There's also been quite a few hoaxes, at least one of which will be prosecuted for making a false report.

 

[7437]

Its fucking terrorism is what it is, plain and simple, stop immigration!!!

What does this have to do with immigration?

 

[Arkain2K]

Strawberry crisis: PM to increase jail term for food tampering to 15 years

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Prime minister Scott Morrison has asked the attorney-general to consider raising the penalty for the crime of food contamination from 10 to 15 years, in a move designed to deter further tampering with fresh fruits.

Mr Morrison said it was important to send a "very clear message" to would-be offenders as police work to track down those behind the recent spate of strawberry contamination, with sewing needles hidden in the fruit.

"Someone who has an offence for forgery or theft of Commonwealth property, they currently get 10 years. That's what you get 10 years for. What you get 15 years for is things like possessing child pornography and financing terrorism."

"That's how seriously our government takes it," he told reporters at Parliament House.

The government will also create a second set of food contamination laws that match the existing offences but with a lower requirement for the mental state of the offender.

The new crimes will only require that the person was "reckless", rather than needing to prove an intention to cause damage.

Those laws would be more likely to capture copycat cases, attorney-general Christian Porter said.

The government will also expand the definition of the crime of "sabotage" - usually referring to sabotage of key national infrastructure - to include the sabotage of food for human consumption.

The sabotage offence will apply to large-scale tampering that endangers "national security" and follows the government's recent changes to the offence to capture cyberattacks on systems like power grids.

The federal government has also announced $1 million in funding to help strawberry growers through the crisis, matching a commitment from the Queensland state government.

Federal Minister for Regional Services Bridget McKenzie made the announcement on Wednesday morning.

"We are announcing $1 million to assist in this issue around the food safety contamination of strawberries," she said.

"We are wanting to see more food safety officials on the ground to work with our state and territory counterparts to make sure when they request a recall, that we fast-track that and that we're absolutely investing in increased methods of detection."

On Wednesday, ten cases of needle contaminations in strawberries are being investigated by Western Australia Police, as the national crisis escalates.

The number was confirmed on Wednesday, with five new cases reported to police since Tuesday in the suburbs of Bicton, Darlington, Hocking, Morley, and Rossmoyne.

The WA government is also offering a $100,000 reward.

Some trade partners in Russia and the UK have already blocked Australian imports, while New Zealand supermarket chains have announced they would pull Australian-grown berries from their shelves.

The Queensland government also pledged $1 million to support the industry and to investigate gaps in the supply chain.

Copycats who have devastated Queensland's strawberry industry by hiding needles inside fruit are worse than those behind the initial crime, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says.

More than 100 police including 60 detectives are now investigating the sabotage and the state government has offered a $100,000 reward leading to the arrest of those involved.

"What isn't helpful is the number of copycat and fake reports making an already difficult situation worse," Ms Palaszczuk told Parliament on Wednesday.

"This is something with which the growers have expressed their anger and frustration and I couldn't agree more."

"The people copying this crime are in many ways worse than those who started it."

What started out as a health issue impacting two Sunshine Coast suppliers has spread to an entire industry with farmers now forced to stand down staff and dump their produce by the truckload.

NSW police are investigating at least 20 cases of needles being found in fruit including claims of needles being found in an apple and a banana.

Perpetrators, including copycats and consumers falsely claiming a discovery, could face up to 10 years in jail for food contamination.

In Victoria, the opposition has called for bipartisan support to create a new offence for deliberately contaminating food with a mandatory three-year prison sentence.

No one has been charged in relation to the tampering.

Horticulture body Growcom has implored consumers to keep buying strawberries.

"Hang in there with us and our saying will be 'cut it up, don't cut us out'," Growcom chief executive David Thomson said.

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce said the culprits must be "pursued and hunted down".

"It is not only a threat to the strawberry industry, it is a threat across the food production industry. We have got to treat it as such," he told the Nine Network.

The scare is expected to result in a review of fruit handling, storage and packaging following the police investigations, Mr Thomson said.

From 9am on Wednesday all fresh strawberries being exported from Australia must be metal-contaminant free.

The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources announced the interim control measure on Tuesday evening in response to the growing situation.

"These measures apply to fresh strawberry exports to all markets, and will remain in place until the risk of metal contaminants has been appropriately managed."

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/strawbe...ease-jail-term-for-food-tampering-to-15-years

 

[Ruprecht]

What does this have to do with immigration?

He probably doesn't realise you can't satirise the War Room.

So far the only culprits found have been hoaxers and kids.

 

[7437]

He probably doesn't realise you can't satirise the War Room.

So far the only culprits found have been hoaxers and kids.

Id like to believe that.


50/50 odds at best

 

[brothir]

The thought of biting in a strawberry and getting a needle through my tongue/ceiling of my mouth is giving me shivers.

As you bite down on the strawberry, you're shocked when your teeth meet hard metal. In surprise, you accidentally swallow the needle. As it tries to pass down your throat, it twirls around and gets stuck horizontally, pointing outwards. As the pain strikes you, you reflexively tighten the muscles in your throat, giving the needle enough force to be driven right through the outside of your throat, just above your adam's apple, about half its length sticking out. In horror, you reach for the wound. Driven by instinct, you grab the the needle and pull it right out of your throat, a thin geyser of blood gushing out from the narrow wound as you do. It's impossible to breathe, and it feels like your head will explode.

You fall over clutching your throat, praying that the pain will soon subside.

 

[tonni]

As you bite down on the strawberry, you're shocked when your teeth meet hard metal. In surprise, you accidentally swallow the needle. As it tries to pass down your throat, it twirls around and gets stuck horizontally, pointing outwards. As the pain strikes you, you reflexively tighten the muscles in your throat, giving the needle enough force to be driven right through the outside of your throat, just above your adam's apple, about half its length sticking out. In horror, you reach for the wound. Driven by instinct, you grab the the needle and pull it right out of your throat, a thin geyser of blood gushing out from the narrow wound as you do. It's impossible to breathe, and it feels like your head will explode.

You fall over clutching your throat, praying that the pain will soon subside.

Honestly that needle should be the one worried.

 

[brothir]

Honestly that needle should be the one worried.

I don't get it.

 

[tonni]

I don't get it.