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People have been hiding needles in strawberries in Australia, and it's put at least 2 people in hospital

People across Australia have been finding small sewing needles hidden inside their store-bought strawberries. Two people have been hospitalized with abdominal pain. Authorities are scrambling to find the perpetrators, with the government offering US$72,000 for information.

Australians are finding needles in their store-bought strawberries.
  • People across Australia have been finding small sewing needles hidden inside their store-bought strawberries.

At least 11 people across six Australian states have reported seeing needles in their strawberries, although most of them spotted the contamination before swallowing the fruits.

This photo, published by Sky News Australia, shows how easy it is to miss a needle:

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Joshua Gane said on Facebook: "He bites through a strawberry and swallows half a sewing needle. We then checked the other strawberries and found another sewing needle lodged inside one of them.

"We are now at the ER [emergency room] because he subsequently started experiencing severe abdominal pain."

Hoani Hearne, a 21-year-old in Queensland, was also taken to hospital after swallowing part of a needle and developing severe abdominal pain on Sunday, according to

"I bit straight in — kneejerk reaction was to swallow — and yeah, it wasn't a pleasant surprise," Hearne told the local Nine News TV network, as cited by The Courier Mail.

As of Monday, nine people in five other Australian states have reported finding needles in their store-bought strawberries in five other Australian states outside Queensland.

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The latest case came on Monday, when a man in York, Western Australia — the other side of the country form Queensland — found a needle while washing his strawberries, as reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

It remains unclear how the needles managed to get into the store-bought strawberries, and at which stage of the production process the fruits were contaminated.

The Queensland Strawberry Growers Association said last Thursday that the perpetrator could be one of its disgruntled former employees, according to The Australian.

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However, with the contamination found across other states in Australia, authorities are no longer sure.

Queensland police are still working to find the perpetrators, and are "keeping a very open mind" as they interview more than 100 people to find suspects, according to Business Insider Australia.

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."

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