Fonterra’s botulism scare triggers global product recall

New Zealand authorities have triggered a global recall of up to 1,000 tons of dairy products across seven countries after dairy giant Fonterra announced tests had turned up a type of bacteria that could cause botulism.

New Zealand's Ministry of Primary Industries said Saturday that the tainted products include infant formula, sports drinks, protein drinks and other beverages. It said countries affected in addition to New Zealand include China, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

Fonterra said its customers were urgently checking their supply chains.

One New Zealand company has locked down five batches of infant formula and China is asking importers to immediately recall products.

Fonterra is the world's largest dairy exporter, with annual revenues of about US$16 billion.

Consumers in China and elsewhere are willing to pay a big premium for New Zealand infant formula because the country has a healthy reputation.

The Centers for Disease Control describes botulism as a rare but sometimes fatal paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin.

Fonterra said it has told eight customers of the problem, which dates back more than a year, and they were investigating whether any of the affected product is in supply chains. It said those companies will initiate any consumer product recalls.

Fonterra refused to divulge the companies, countries or specific products affected.

Gary Romano, managing director of Fonterra's New Zealand milk products, said his company supplies raw materials to the eight companies and it is up to them to inform consumers.

The company did acknowledge that its chief executive, Theo Spierings, planned to fly to China yesterday, in part to deal with the fallout.

New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries said yesterday that New Zealand company Nutricia used the tainted product in its Karicare formula for infants aged over six months.

Nutricia had locked down all five batches of infant formula it believed contained the tainted product, the ministry said. But it advised that parents should buy different products until it verified the location of all tainted Nutricia products.

China's product quality watchdog issued a statement urging importers of Fonterra dairy products to immediately start recalling the products.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine also told quality agencies around China to step up inspections of milk products from New Zealand.

Romano said the problem was caused by unsterilized pipes at a Waikato factory. He said three batches of whey protein weighing about 42 tons were tainted in May 2012, adding that Fonterra has since cleaned the pipes.

The New Zealand ministry says the tainted product has been mixed with other ingredients to form about 1,000 tons of consumer products worldwide.

Romano said Fonterra hasn't received reports of anybody becoming ill and added that the problem hasn't affected any fresh milk, yoghurt, cheese or long-lasting heat-treated milk.

In 2008, six babies in China died and another 300,000 were left ill by infant formula that was tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical added to watered-down milk.

Fonterra owned a minority stake in Sanlu, the now-bankrupt Chinese company at the center of the scandal.