Woolworths have withdrawn sewing needles from its shelves nationally following the fruit tampering crisis.

“We’ve taken the precautionary step of temporarily removing sewing needles from sale in our stores. The safety of our customers is our top priority,” a Woolworths spokeswoman told AAP.

Coles said it had no plans to pull sewing needles from its shelves, saying it was instead focused on thoroughly inspecting strawberries before they arrived at the nation’s supermarkets.

“We have worked with our suppliers to implement additional control measures to ensure strawberries are inspected before they are sent to supermarkets. Queensland Health has advised people should cut up strawberries before consuming them,” a Coles spokeswoman told news.com.au.

More than 100 reports of tampered fruit are being investigated by police across the country, many of which are thought to be fake or copycat cases.

A 12 year old has been arrested after admitting they put a needle in their strawberry at school as a prank. (Read more)

Further cases of sabotage

The latest news in three new cases have been reported, including one in Newcastle involving a needle in a banana which was packed in a child’s lunchbox, and two more strawberry contamination reports in Tasmania. Also more apples were found in Tasmania to contain needles.

We will continue to update as the incidents unfold.

Share your comments below