Strawberry growers are taking aim at government agencies for creating what they describe as “hysteria” around the needle crisis.
Growcom chief advocate Rachel McKenzie said the response had tarnished the sector and led to copycat attacks that had seriously damaged the industry.
“I think it’s fair to say that the rhetoric from some jurisdictions has actually exacerbated the problem and potentially led to copycat crimes,” she said.
“You have the New South Wales police coming out and naming a whole range of brands based on things that are obviously not concerning to the Queensland health department.
Ms McKenzie said the Queensland health department was only looking at incidents relating to three brands coming from one pack house, but now export markets were being affected.
“There is concern from countries as far away as Russia. We’ve got export protocols in place, [and] there are certain retailers that have no strawberries on their shelves,” she said.
“We need to have a really good look at this situation and…
