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INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — The Independence Police Department is working closely with Hy-Vee after receiving a “suspicious banana call” Tuesday morning.

Officers responded to the store located off E. 23rd Street around 10 a.m. after receiving a call from someone saying his nephew had eaten a banana from the store that they believed contained blood. The person who called said they believed someone had injected the banana with human blood. Police say preliminary tests did not detect the presence of blood in the banana.

After hearing about this incident, the store pulled all of its bananas from the shelf as a precaution. Store employees then unpeeled all of the bananas and worked with investigators to determine if there were any other products with similar discoloration.

Police said the incident is still under investigation but the discoloration is believed to be related to a produce-related fungus that can occasionally show up in bananas.

The banana has been sent to a lab for follow-up testing to determine what caused the discoloration.

The store said they are working to replenish their produce area with a new supply of bananas.

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