Fonterra insists on safety of its products
Looking back, in August 2013 Russia suspended dairy imports from Fonterra, following the WPC80 Precautionary Recall, and some restrictions on New Zealand imports continue to be in place.
As per Martin Bates, none of the impacted product was exported to Russia and all products have subsequently been found to be safe. “We were obviously relieved that the additional independent testing definitively established that there was no presence of Clostridium botulinum in Fonterra's whey protein concentrate ingredient and the products made using it. This additional testing involved a total of 195 tests carried out by independent international laboratories.
Despite this news it has not diminished our commitment to learn from, and share, any findings about how we can improve. With this in mind various reviews and inquiries have been completed.
On 4 September we released the findings of an operational review, commissioned by our Chief Executive Theo Spierings. These findings were focused on finding out what happened and why, and to understand what actions the business could take to prevent this from happening again. This Review has enabled us to strengthen our systems, while continuing to process this season’s fast-growing milk flows.
More recently, the findings of the Independent Inquiry, commissioned by the Fonterra Board, have also been shared publically. While this Inquiry did not indicate any fundamental problems within Fonterra, it did make 33 recommendations to improve and build on changes already underway to address the issues that led to the WPC80 Precautionary Recall and affected Fonterra’s responses to the event”, says Fonterra’s representative.
By the way, Mr. Bates noted, that the company continues “to see strong global sales of Fonterra’s products, based on demand for high quality milk products. This demand is reflected in the recent Global Dairy Trade (GDT) prices”.
“Fonterra produces high quality, safe food. Making sure Fonterra is a world leader in terms of quality assurance and food safety is central to everything we do. Fonterra has been both transparent and thorough through the internal and independent inquiries that have occurred into the WPC80 Precautionary Recall”, - said the company’s regional director in conclusion.
