A Tauranga family has found a needle inside a strawberry, police have confirmed.
The matter has been referred to both the Pak'nSave supermarket the strawberry was bought at, and the police.
Police told Newshub it had referred the matter on to the Ministry of Primary Industries.
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Foodstuffs also confirmed it had been notified of the discovery.
"We are aware of an issue with a customer finding a pin/needle in a punnet of strawberries purchased at one of our stores in Tauranga. The remaining product has since been removed from the store's shelves," a spokesperson told Newshub.
"We are liasing with the authorities directly regarding this and as such we are unable to comment further.
"Customer safety is our number one priority and we encourage all customers to contact stores directly should they ever encounter a tampering issue with a product."
This discovery follows the nationwide food scare across Australia, when more than 100 needles were found in Australian strawberries.
It's the latest needle to be found in fruit in New Zealand since one was discovered inside a South Island strawberry, and another in a Tauranga capsicum at the end of November. Prior to that, three needles were found in a punnet of strawberries at an Auckland supermarket in September.
Our strawberry industry is worth more than $35 million, with around 70 growers. They warn a copycat effect could be devastating to the industry.
Newshub.
