2018 Australian strawberry contamination

The Queensland Strawberry Growers Association initially stated they had "reason to suspect" a "disgruntled" former packing employee was responsible for the contamination.[7] Queensland Police Acting Chief Superintendent Terry Lawrence subsequently cast doubt upon that theory, stating "This was an earlier comment by the Strawberry Growers Association, it's something we don't subscribe to".[8] Adrian Schultz, the vice-president of the Queensland Strawberry Growers Association described the contamination as an act of "commercial terrorism".[9] Tony Holl, a strawberry grower from Western Australia told the ABC that he believed someone had a "vendetta" against the strawberry industry, suggesting otherwise the contamination could be a "terrorist act".[10]

The ABC reported on Thursday that "Police believe they have contained the threat and assured consumers would be able to safely buy strawberries again from Thursday, when stock is replaced."[7]

As of 19 September, Queensland Police had more than 100 officers, including 60 detectives, working on the investigation into the contamination.[11] However, by 15 October Queensland Police scaled this back to one full time detective amid a lack of clear leads.[12]

On 15 September 2018, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the sabotage.[13] On 18 September, Palaszczuk announced a $1 million assistance package for the strawberry industry in the state, telling State Parliament that "This past week, Queensland has been the victim of an ugly, calculated and despicable crime."[14][15] Also on 18 September, Premier of Western Australia Mark McGowan announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to a prosecution.[16]

The two largest food retailers in New Zealand, Woolworths NZ and Foodstuffs announced they would be removing Australian-grown strawberries from their shelves.[17]

On 18 September 2018, Senator Bridget McKenzie, the Minister for Regional Services, issued a media statement, describing the contamination as "deliberate sabotage" and urging consumers to "exercise caution and cut up their fruit before consumption."[18]

As of 17 September 2018, a consumer-level food recall of any affected brands had yet to be issued. Instead, only a "trade recall" had been issued. Food Standards Australia New Zealand describes a trade recall as a recall "conducted when the food has not been sold directly to consumers. It involves recovery of the product from distribution centres and wholesalers".[19] Professor Melissa Fitzgerald, a food safety expert at the University of Queensland, told the ABC she was "surprised" there had not been a consumer-level recall given the products had been sold to individual customers. The recall was not mentioned on supermarket or government food safety websites—something Professor Fitzgerald would have expected. Professor Fitzgerald said "I would expect people to go to the websites for information...People may be quite surprised not to find any information on the websites where they normally would." Professor Fitzgerald criticised the delay between the first incident on 9 September and the public warning on 12 September.[20]

Queensland Strawberry Industry Development Officer Jennifer Rowling accused "some authoritative spokespeople" of mishandling the response to the incident. She also criticised a "sometimes hysterical media" and accused them of costing agricultural businesses millions of dollars. Rowling insisted only three brands had been affected and said "All other reported cases have either been copycats or unsubstantiated claims."[21]

On 15 September, Suncoast Harvest farm of the Sunshine Coast announced on Facebook[22] that they were ceasing growing strawberries for the remainder of the year, resulting in job losses for 100 workers.[23] Some growers started ordering and installing metal detectors to protect their strawberries from contamination.[10]

Some farms had to dispose of strawberries in response to the crisis. Donnybrook Berries of Queensland, one of the brands affected, dumped truckloads of berries, sharing the resulting video footage which went viral with over a million views in a day.[24] One Queensland farm burned off 500,000 strawberry plants deemed unsellable, as it was cheaper than harvesting.[25]

On 11 November 2018, My Ut Trinh, a 50-year-old farm supervisor, from Caboolture, was arrested in Brisbane and charged with seven counts of contaminating goods, relating to one of the initial cases of contamination involving the Berry Licious brand.[26] Ms Trinh worked at the Berrylicious/Berry Obsession fruit farm north of Brisbane as a picking supervisor.[27][28]