The Queensland Government has offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible for the current strawberry contamination incident.
Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk said the reward was an additional incentive to bring the incident to a rapid conclusion.
“Whoever is behind this is not just putting families at risk across Queensland and the rest of Australia – they are putting an entire industry at risk,” the Premier said.
“I would urge anyone with information that may be relevant to this incident in any way to contact police as soon as possible.”
Two brands of strawberries – Berry Obsession and Berrylicious – have already been withdrawn from sale, and a third brand, Donnybrook Berries, is being removed from sale.
Queensland supplies the winter production of strawberries for Australia, with the season running from May to October, with some contribution to summer production from the Stanthorpe region.
There are approximately 150 strawberry growers in Queensland, with most production around Dayboro, Beerwah, Wamuran, Elimbah, Caboolture, Stanthorpe and Bundaberg.