Fonterra CEO apologises for contamination anxiety

Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings has issued an apology for the “anxiety” caused by the potential Clostridium botulinum contamination of Fonterra’s whey protein concentrate.

“I understand the anxiety this issue has caused over the past few days and I apologise for this, particularly to mums and dads around the world,” Spierings said.

“On Friday 2 August, after a period of extensive testing we concluded that we had a potential food safety risk. The tests showed that this risk was minute but that it was a risk nonetheless.

“For this reason, we immediately informed the Ministry for Primary Industries, our customers and the public even though we did not have all the information about product location on hand. Our priority was to alert people to the potential risk as we continued to gather facts and, along with our customers, identify and contain affected products.”

Spierings said the potential risk the contamination presented was minimal as Clostridium botulinum can only survive in anaerobic environments. “When exposed to oxygen, Clostridium botulinum does not survive and, for this reason, it is not commonly tested for in dairy manufacturing,” Spierings said.

“The discovery of this particular form of Clostridium will be the subject of discussions with regulatory authorities and our own technologists about requirements for future testing regimes and quality regulations.

“Our priority is to focus on dealing with the current situation, following which we will conduct an extensive audit into what happened and what can be done differently in the future.

“I believe Fonterra has acted in a responsible manner, with public health at the forefront of our minds throughout.”