“Advice continues to be eat strawberries, but cut them up and have a look first,” the police in Queensland State said in a Facebook post.

But a steady stream of news stories has stoked concern. On Sunday, a 7-year-old girl in South Australia bit into a strawberry with a needle but was unharmed. On Monday, a man in Western Australia discovered a needle in a strawberry when he cut into it. Earlier this month 21-year-old Queensland man had to rush to a hospital after swallowing part of a sewing needle.

“It wasn’t a pleasant surprise,” the man, Hoani Hearne, told 9 News last week.

On Monday, the police in Queensland said that a 62-year-old woman had contaminated a banana with a metal object, but they did not believe she was connected to the other attacks. It was the first such incident that involved a different type of fruit.

By Tuesday, a woman in Sydney found a needle in a third type of fruit, a Pink Lady apple purchased from a Woolworths supermarket, according to local news media. The New South Wales Police called the tampering “disipicable,” and said they were investigating.

The strawberry industry has scrambled to regain consumer confidence, with one farm showing off a metal detector it said every case of strawberries would pass through. At least six brands have recalled their berries.