In December last year, producer Dino Borrato, working out of Bacchus Marsh in central Victoria, lost close to $1 million overnight when more than 100 Australians were reportedly poisoned after eating contaminated spinach. The contamination was traced back to the noxious weed thornapple, a poisonous invasive species found in one brand of spinach from a New South Wales farm.
Borrato said consumer demand plummeted overnight. But it is not over yet: eight months in, and he is still picking up the pieces. In effect, the contamination event devastated the country's spinach industry.
Major supermarkets recalled dozens of spinach products sold across the country after announcing the product was not safe to consume. Borrato said, despite the isolated event, shoppers avoided bagged spinach in supermarkets and did not look for it elsewhere.
"The bagged industry really dropped hard, but it hasn't been substituted by the fresh industry," he said. "Like buying it from veggie shops, going to market, so that hasn't sold well."
However, he is confident the industry will bounce back.
Source: abc.net.au
