The daughter of farm owners whose strawberries were sabotaged has posted a heartbreaking video showing the impact of the crisis.
Stephanie Chheang's mother and stepfather run Donnybrook Berries in Queensland, one of six farms affected by metal contamination.
Supermarkets have refused to take the farm's stock in the wake of needles being discovered embedded in strawberries, bananas and now an apple.
An Australian man was hospitalised after swallowing part of a sewing needle that had been shoved into a strawberry, prompting a police investigation. It's believed a disgruntled ex-employee is behind the fruit sabotage.
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Ms Chheang posted a video to Facebook showing thousands of harvested strawberries from her parents' farm being dumped by a loader.
"This is no doubt the worst thing to ever happen to my family," she wrote.
"This here is worth more than you could ever imagine, and within three days we lost it all."
She said her mother and stepfather have worked hard for years to build their business, which employs 250 people, and "to have these selfish individuals destroy it is just so upsetting".
Donnybrook Berries will use metal detectors and other safety equipment in future, she says.
Spiked fruit has been discovered across Australia, popping up in every state so far except Western Australia.
Foodstuffs and Countdown have halted distribution of Australian strawberries in New Zealand in the wake of the scare.
Newshub.
