Demand for product recall cover has spiked since the needles-in-strawberries crisis in September, broker Gallagher says.

Food producers have acted to protect themselves against sabotage and related dangers, spooked by the high-profile tampering incident and subsequent fallout.

“I don’t think anyone would have thought someone would tamper with food in this way,” Gallagher’s National Head of Food Production Stephen Elms told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“I think it’s probably fair to say the thought that somebody could damage your product in this way has just changed everyone’s views on how to protect themselves against it. So we are seeing a massive uptake in product recall policies.”

A former farm supervisor from Queensland was arrested and charged last week for allegedly putting needles in the fruit out of spite. Her alleged actions are believed to have inspired copycat incidents elsewhere in the country.

The strawberry scare came during the peak selling season, and many unaffected farmers were forced to sell produce at a loss as consumers shunned the fruit.

Insurers have been spurred into action, with many placing more stringent criteria on product recall coverage. They want clients to demonstrate their risk management processes before taking on the business.

“What insurers are saying, basically, is you have to have more skin in the game,” Mr Elms said. “It’s really pushing the clients to make sure their internal risk management processes are as robust as possible.

“If there’s potentially no internal risk management-type processes in place, they may not be able to buy cover or they will offer cover but the price will be extremely high and the deductibles will be very high as well.”