Police in Australia have confirmed that sewing needles have been found in and apple and a banana.
The country has been on high alert since last week, when sewing needles were found in strawberries. Retailers pulled strawberries off their shelves and authorities warned people to be extra vigilant.
The latest incidents occurred in Sydney and police have described it as “isolated incidents”
Since the first incident was reported in Queensland, one man was hospitalized and authorities cautioned that copycats who insert foreign objects into food or fruit face up to 10 years imprisonment if found guilty.
. @pwafork on needles in strawberries: What is actually really needed here is an arrest. We need to know who is doing it. Is it a scrubbed employee, is it a backpacker, is it somebody working on these farms, are there copycat cases?
MORE: https://t.co/ykweMevBOK #headsup pic.twitter.com/7PO4Xv3eOI
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) September 17, 2018
needles have now been found in apples?? so in australia we can’t eat strawberries, bananas or apples 👌🏼
— holly (@hxllyjane) September 18, 2018
ok so now in australia we have to be careful when eating strawberries, bananas and apples bc there’s needles in them wtf
— alyssya (@ozseavey) September 18, 2018
Strawberry producers have installed metal detectors at their business as an extra health and safety measure.
Strawberry prices have plummeted amid the national panic as authorities urged people to rather avoid buying and eating the fruit.
Social media has fuelled panic, as people post and share unconfirmed and unverified reports that more needles have been found in food and fruit in Australia.