February 20, 2014

New Zealand to improve dairy traceability after Fonterra scare

The New Zealand government has established a working group which will help improve traceability in the country's dairy sector, in the wake of last year's Fonterra case of whey protein concentrate (WPC) contamination.

Primary Industries Minister, Nathan Guy, and Food Safety Minister, Nikki Kaye, announced plans to establish the working group to "investigate possible changes to regulations and industry practices to improve food and ingredient traceability."

The group will consist of members from the Food and Grocery Council, the New Zealand Retailers Association, GS1 New Zealand, the Dairy Company Association of New Zealand (DCANZ), the Infant Nutrition Council, the New Zealand Infant Formula Exporters' Association, AsureQuality, and the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

The group, which will hold its first meeting in March, will report to MPI's director general, Martyn Dunne.

Food Safety Minister Kaye hopes that the group, which will be headed up by New Zealand's former High Commissioner to Australia, John Larkindale, will further protect the public in the event of a suspected food safety issue.

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra issued a food safety alert to several customers on August 2, 2013 over concerns that three batches of whey protein concentrates (WPC), potentially contaminated with botulism-causing Clostridium botulinum, had entered the supply chain.

Tests later confirmed that the bacteria found in the batches were not Clostridium botulinum, but Clostridium sporogenes – a non-toxic Clostridium strain.

The follow-up results came too late, however, for a number of Fonterra customers, including Danone-owned Nutricia Australia New Zealand (Nutricia ANZ) and Dumex, who voluntarily pulled products from shelves across Asia, the Middle East and Australasia in response to the initial alert.

A government inquiry into the incident concluded that the botulism scare was "not the result of any regulatory failure." It recommended, however, that investment be made to update legislation.

The inquiry "highlighted the importance of effective systems for dairy traceability," said Guy.