Canberra calls for consumer action as Singapore supermarket bans Australian strawberries over contamination scare
Australian PM Scott Morrison is trying to assure shoppers his country’s strawberries are safe, with new scanning and packaging measures
Morrison outlined tighter export controls as the crisis – which has seen pins and needles inserted into fruit across the country – spread further overseas.
The prime minister detailed several government-backed measures to restore confidence in the industry, including funding to review tamper-proof packaging and the recent introduction of X-rays and shrink wrapping on exports.
“There’s work also being done to support communications up through the supply chain into our international markets,” he told reporters at a farm in the northeast state of Queensland.
The industry is reeling as a string of incidents over the past few weeks – some of them copycats or hoaxes – have unnerved shoppers and have police struggling to find the original offender.