Police are investigating after a needle was found in a capsicum sold at a Tauranga supermarket and in a strawberry from a punnet in Geraldine at the weekend.
A customer reportedly found the needle in a red capsicum on Sunday after he purchased it from Countdown Bureta Park in Tauranga the previous day.
A Countdown spokesperson said today the incident had been referred to the New Zealand Police and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
"We've been in touch with both the customer and MPI. The matter is now with the NZ Police who are investigating," the spokesperson said.
"We take food safety incredibly seriously and will work closely with both the NZ Police and MPI to cooperate fully with their investigation."
A needle in a strawberry was discovered in a punnet of the fruit after it was sold at a supermarket in the South Canterbury town of Geraldine at the weekend, police confirmed.
A customer purchased the punnet of strawberries on Saturday morning and reported to police in the evening that the strawberry had been tampered with.
In September, three needles were found in strawberries in New Zealand, according to MPI.
A timeline released by the ministry said the needles were found in three strawberries in one punnet from Countdown's St Lukes supermarket in Auckland.
Woolworths New Zealand also informed MPI that the needles had been found in one of their strawberries.
The incidents follow more than 100 reports of fruit being tampered with throughout Australia earlier this year.
On November 11, Queensland police said they had arrested a 50-year-old woman over a strawberry needle contamination scare in September that forced supermarkets across Australia to pull fruit from shelves and farmers to dump it by the truckload.
Needles were also found in packets of strawberries in other states and in other fruit, as well as copycat incidents.
The federal government stumped up $A1 million ($NZ1.06 million) for the industry and rushed through laws to see those responsible face up to 15 years in jail.
