Coles customer finds needle in mango
As authorities continue to warn Aussies to cut up their fruit amidst the tampering scandal, a customer has discovered a needle embedded inside a supermarket-bought mango.
On Monday, the customer purchased the mango at a Coles supermarket in West Gosford on the NSW Central Coast.
Chief Inspector Nigel Webber said the customer had the mango for two days before cutting it up and finding the small needle wedged inside.
The shopper immediately reported the discovery to local police.
“Police have seized the needle for forensic examination. No persons were injured,” he told the Central Coast Gosford Express Advocate.
A Coles spokeswoman said the supermarket giant takes “food safety seriously and this matter is being investigated”.
“Health authorities have advised people should cut their fruit before they consume it,” she said.
The discovery follows more than 100 reports of needles being found in strawberries, apples and bananas around the country.
New South Wales Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Stuart Smith revealed that a 12-year-old girl confessed to inserting needles into strawberries in what is believed to be a copycat prank.
The school student allegedly inserted the needles into the strawberries and then showed her friends in her school located in the Blue Mountains.
One of the students informed staff and the police were immediately contacted.
When the police interviewed the girl at her home, she eventually confessed to planting the needles herself.
“Obviously, in the last few days we found a young person has admitted to a prank, including putting needles in strawberries,” Mr Smith told reporters in Sydney.
Meanwhile, farmers selling their produce at markets have invested in metal detectors to prove their fruit is untampered with.
However, Liz Jarman from Berry Sweet farm in Queensland said the small conveyor belt is as pricey as a small car.
“They are installed at the end of pack benches, they are like miniature versions of the metal detectors at the airport,” she said.
Ms Jarman said the precautionary is working, revealing that she was one of the many farmers who sold all of their strawberries hours before the market closed.