NZ revokes export certificates for dairy

A total of 390 kilograms of dairy ingredients exported from New Zealand were found to have elevated nitrate levels before hitting the market, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said Monday.

The authority also ordered that two batches of Westland Milk Products problematic lactoferrin, an ingredient for some dairy products, be sealed, requiring New Zealand dairy companies to provide reports on nitrate levels of products exported to China.

New Zealand's Ministry of Primary Industries responded on Monday that it has revoked export certificates for four consignments of Westland's products that were derived from the two affected batches, with one batch exported directly to China and the other supplied to Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company in New Zealand then exported to China.

Westland said the two batches showed nitrate levels of 610 and 2,198 parts per million respectively, far above New Zealand's maximum nitrate limit of 150 parts per million.

Steve Attwood, spokesperson for Westland, told the Global Times that the non-complying product is not a public health issue because lactoferrin is used as a very minor ingredient.

"The food product itself will not contain higher than allowed levels of nitrates because the amount of lactoferrin used is so small," said Attwood, noting that even if the non-complying ingredient had been used, the products produced would still comply to Chinese food safety standards.

The problem arose as traces of cleaning products that contain nitrates were not adequately flushed from the plant prior to a new production run, said Attwood.

The Heilongjiang-based dairy producer Wondersun, one of the Chinese companies that bought the problematic dairy ingredient, has returned the product after detecting the elevated nitrate levels, said Yu Ningjiang, a spokesperson for the company.

"Lactoferrin used in China has all been imported from other countries as domestic diary companies don't have the technology to extract it," Wang Dingmian, chairman of the Guangzhou Dairy Industry Association, told the Global Times on Monday.

Wang said Chinese consumer dependency on the imported dairy products will not be lessened in spite of the ongoing cases involving New Zealand companies. "Westland is a good example of promptly admitting mistakes and responding to the public, something that Chinese dairy companies lack."

The New Zealand government also said Monday that its investigation into Fonterra would look at the causes of the contamination, as well as the regulatory and best practice requirements, against the background of the incident.

A total of 38 tons of Fonterra whey protein used by other manufacturers, including makers of infant formula, was revealed to have been contaminated with bacteria that can cause botulism.

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Contaminated Milk Scare