The 50-year-old Australian woman arrested on Sunday following an investigation into strawberries contaminated with sewing needles was a supervisor at a strawberry farm in Queensland.
Queensland Police arrested My Ut Trinh on Sunday afternoon. On Sunday evening she was charged with seven counts of contamination of goods with intent to cause economic loss.
Fronting the media on Monday morning, detective superintendent Jon Wacker described the investigation as "unique" and said DNA evidence would be submitted to court.
"We believe the evidence is strong," said Wacker, confirming the offender was an Australian citizen.
Ut Trinh faces a maximum of 10 years imprisonment if found guilty, he said.
Wacker said there had been hundreds of reports of contaminated fruit across the country.
"Since the initial report a further 230 reports across Australia have been received impacting 68 strawberry brands, 49 of those being Queensland-based brands," he said.
"In these matters the primary contaminate was sewing needles, which saw 186 incidents nationwide. In Queensland, 77 incidents were reported. Of these, 15 incidents are believed to be a hoax or a false complaint.
"The accused was an employee within the strawberry industry in the Caboolture area. The investigation is ongoing."
On Monday afternoon Ut Trinh's lawyer withdrew an application for bail in the Brisbane Magistrates Court. The 50-year-old will remain in police custody as a result.
"She has embarked on a course over several months of putting a metal object into fruit," said prosecutor Cheryl Tesch, who opposed bail on the grounds of a risk of witnesses being interfered with.
Australia's needle crisis began in early September, when a Queensland man was hospitalised after he bit into a strawberry that contained a sewing needle.