Adam Reeve, who was on holiday in the Wellington region, was travelling home with his friend when they stopped at Pak'nSave Porirua to buy some groceries.
Mr Reeve said his friend began tucking into the strawberries while driving and when he moved to eat one himself she yelled: "Don't eat them!"
Mr Reeve said they then discovered fragments of glass inside the punnet and his friend began to feel unwell, she said she ate other strawberries before she crunched on something solid. Mr Reeve told the Herald his friend then felt a pain in her throat.
Mr Reeve said his friend "started to look a little pale" and became upset and anxious.
He described the glass as thin, like "old lightbulb glass".
Mr Reeve told the Herald: "I was worried about my friend, it scared the living daylights out of me."
They returned to the store, where staff offered them a refund, which they accepted, and some replacement strawberries, which the pair turned down.
The pair sought treatment for Mr Reeve's friend at the Accident & Medical Clinic at nearby Kenepuru Hospital, where Mr Reeve says a doctor told his friend to drink a fizzy drink and eat some bread to dislodge the glass and help it to pass through her system.
Mr Reeve told the Herald that Pak'nSave offered to pay for their visit to the clinic.
He said that when they returned to Pak'nSave after the hospital visit, the strawberries had been removed from sale.
Mr Reeve said that two other people have contacted him since he went public, saying they had similar experiences.
A spokesperson from Foodstuffs, which operates Pak'nSave, told the Herald: "We are aware of an isolated incident involving strawberries at one of our stores.
"We can confirm that we have secured and removed all contaminated product from the store.
"This incident is isolated to this particular store and has no impact on similar product at other stores.
"We are currently working closely with our store, the supplier and MPI in investigating the situation and have no further comment to make at this time."
