WELLINGTON, New Zealand, August 5 (Nick Perry and Louise Watt, Associated Press) – A botulism scare has prompted China and Russia to stop importing some New Zealand dairy products, New Zealand officials said Monday, denting the country's reputation as a supplier of safe, high quality food.
New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra announced Saturday that hundreds of tons of infant formula, sports drinks and other products sold in seven countries could be tainted after tests found bacteria in whey protein concentrate that could cause botulism. The import bans in Russia and China extend beyond the products now being specifically targeted for recall. How long those trade halts last could indicate the extent of the damage to New Zealand's reputation as a source of top-quality dairy products.
There have been no reported illnesses as a result of the contamination. The US Centers for Disease Control describes botulism as a rare but sometimes fatal paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin.
While China has limited its ban to a specific range of Fonterra products, Russia has imposed a wider ban on New Zealand dairy products, even though it wasn't among the countries to receive any of the tainted goods, according to Scott Gallacher, the acting director-general of New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries.
Russia's public health watchdog agency, Rospotrebnadzor, said in a statement that it was suspending imports of Fonterra products and taking steps to remove them from stores. The agency sent directives to its branches in the Russian provinces and to the Federal Customs Agency. It called on Russians to take "reasonable precautionary measures and not to use formulas by Fonterra or any other of its dairy products."
Fonterra is the world's fourth-largest dairy company, with annual revenue of about $16 billion.
Dairy and other agricultural exports power New Zealand's economy, and China is its single biggest export market. An indication of the seriousness of the threat to the country’s trade came over the weekend, when the government assigned 60 officials to work on the botulism scare.
Consumers in China and elsewhere have been willing to pay a premium for New Zealand infant formula because of high food safety standards and the popular image of the country as a remote, unspoiled environment. Chinese consumers have a special interest after tainted local milk formula killed six babies in 2008. At a press conference Monday in Beijing, Fonterra's chief executive Theo Spierings offered an apology to anyone affected by the scare, saying he'd flown to China to provide reassurance in person and because of the importance of the Chinese market to Fonterra.
Fonterra said the contamination occurred as the result of dirty pipes in a Waikato plant in May 2012. It said samples turned up a potential bacteria problem in March this year, but that it took until July 31 for testing to indicate the presence of the type of bacteria that could cause botulism. Asked at the Beijing press conference why it took so long for the problem to show up, Spierings said although the ingredient was produced in 2012, it was only used in making base powder in March this year. At that point, he said, it was retested.
"The supply chain of infant nutrition powders takes a long time because it has many steps and every step is tested very strictly," he said. "The closer you come to the consumer, the more testing you do."
News of the tainted dairy triggered a sell-off in the New Zealand dollar. It dropped about two cents against the US dollar, from 79.3 cents Friday before the announcement to 77.2 cents Monday morning. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said there was "no question" the safety lapse had damaged the reputation of Fonterra and New Zealand.
Watt reported from Beijing; Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed reporting.
