Stock was pulled from supermarket shelves after a Dunedin man found a needle in his banana.
The Ministry for Primary Industries said it was investigating after a man found a long, thin needle when he bit into a banana bought from Countdown Andersons Bay.
His wife, who did not want to be identified, said she had bought the bunch of bananas on Saturday.
Her husband noticed the needle when he started eating the banana at work — it was not visible from the outside, she said. They took the bananas back to the store.
She said both Countdown and the ministry took the issue seriously, and she was told the store had been reviewing security camera footage.