QUEENSLAND police are still unsure if the sabotage devastating the nation's strawberry industry is the work of a single person or several people acting independently.
The crisis is spreading after metal needles were found in strawberries in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania.
Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said the investigation was complicated by the vast web of supply chains where the strawberries are produced and shipped to.
"There is a range of really complex scenarios which could play out here, and we're looking at all of them, and that's what's taking the time," he said on Monday.
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The investigation was complicated further when a 62-year-old woman was caught putting a needle into a banana in central Queensland, in an apparent copycat act.
It's understood that the woman, caught at a shop in Mackay, has mental health issues.
In a statement police said they were treating it as an isolated incident without any links to other food contamination investigations.
Queensland Agriculture Minister Mark Furner met with strawberry growers nervous about their future as the number of needle contamination cases grows to 10 and New Zealand food distributors remove Australian strawberries from their shelves.
Vice president of the Queensland Strawberry Growers Association, Adrian Schultz, says what started with a single "act of commercial terrorism" has now brought a multi-million-dollar industry to its knees, with jobs beyond the growers now likely to be lost.
"I'm angry for all the associated people, it's the farmers, the people who supply them, the packaging people, the truckies with families to support, who suddenly lose their jobs ... it's far-reaching," he told ABC radio on Monday.
Growers met with Mr Furner on Sunday to discuss the commercial effects of the contamination that began at a southeast Queensland farm eight days ago.
Mr Furner says industry-specific assistance packages are being considered but no plan will be made until an understanding of the "complete effect" of the sabotage is understood.
"We won't be coming up with any half-baked outcomes ... we need to listen to what is required," he said.
There are around 150 commercial strawberry growers in Queensland.
Mr Furner said a variety of generic government assistance packages were available and these would be offered to growers.
He said many growers were already experiencing economic stresses before the contamination began due to an oversupply of fruit, which had led to retail prices for punnets falling to around $1.50 each.
Australian Associated Press
