Strawberries lovers in Tasmania are being urged to cut up the fruit before eating, as police investigate a needle contamination claim in the state.
A woman has said on social media she found a needle in a punnet of strawberries bought from a Hobart supermarket on the weekend.
Strawberries contaminated with metal needles have been found in five states and caused New Zealand's major supermarkets to stop selling the fruit from Australia.
Strawberries from three brands caught up in the crisis, Berry Obsession, Berry Licious and Donnybrook Berries, have been distributed in Tasmania, acting director of public health Scott McKeown said on Monday.
"Some of that material has come to Tasmania," he told reporters.
"At this time of the year, most of the strawberries in Tasmania do come from interstate."
The state's health department has advised Tasmanians to cut up any fresh strawberries from interstate before eating them.
Police haven't confirmed whether the Hobart case is linked to any interstate.
Detective acting inspector David Richardson said the woman was "distressed" by the needle find.
"Her daughter found it, it will be alleged that she found it when she was going to eat it," he told reporters, adding there was no information to suggest the incident was a hoax as claimed by some on social media.
