Vegetable growers see red at sales by thieves in NZ

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Stolen and potentially-contaminated produce has been sold to unsuspecting buyers from roadside traders and flea market vendors, at the expense of legitimate growers who say they are losing thousands of dollars a year to theft. Police are following "several lines of inquiry" after meeting with flea market authorities and local growers, fed up with being undercut by illegal traders.

One major concern is that thieves have no idea what chemicals have been applied to the fruit they are stealing. After being sprayed, produce must have a withholding period to ensure remaining chemical levels comply with residue limits set out by the Food Safety Authority. "It's disgusting people are doing this when there are legitimate growers working hard to ensure our produce is safe and meeting those regulations," says grower Andrew Geuze, a weekly trader at the flea market and farmers market.

"Growers put in all this hard work, then thieves come down here and sell broccoli at a quarter of the price." Thieving was rife in the industry, with a considerable amount stolen from Gisborne growers and sold illegally from Auckland markets, Mr Geuze said He had seen people selling broccoli and cabbages with the roots still attached, laid out on wool fadges and tarpaulins.

"I'm concerned about food safety and making sure people are getting clean produce, so to see veges being sold that way -- it's just gross!" Senior Sergeant Maui Aben said police were surprised by the magnitude of the thieving but action was being taken to tackle the problem. "We are also working with the council in terms of hawkers on the street, to make sure they are not selling stolen produce on the side of the road," he said.

"We don't want the growers out of pocket or the flea market to become the kind of place where stolen produce is sold. The flea market is a good activity." Tourism Eastland manages the flea market and is working closely with security and traders to give thieves a clear message they will not be tolerated. Chief executive Graham Breckell said security had the right to turn away any vendors they suspected of selling stolen property.

Under existing regulations, vendors simply need to turn up on the day and pay a $10 stallholder fee. Unlike prepared food such as cakes or burgers, a food permit is not needed for fresh produce. Gisborne District Council environment and planning manager Hans Van Kregten said there had been no complaints from anyone with health issues as a result of buying flea market produce.

Council staff would be making regular visits to the flea markets to ensure all traders had the necessary permits though, he said. Mayor Meng Foon warned people receiving stolen produce to be aware they too could be prosecuted. "Stealing is not tolerated by our community -- we must be firm and make a stand against all thieves," he said.

An industry source said stealing produce from crops or trees was no different to stealing from the supermarket or private property. "It's still theft. The person who is growing the vegetables is going to be out of pocket and will need to grow even more to make up for the loss. I think growers would be losing in excess of $10,000 each year as a result of these thieves," he said.

"The general public also needs to be aware if they buy produce from unknown sources, they are running the risk of eating produce that has chemicals over the residue limit. They don't know what they're getting."