Fonterra halted shipment over nitrite levels

FONTERRA has confirmed that milk powder it sent to China in May contained excessive nitrite.

The high nitrite levels were first brought up by the official China Daily newspaper in late July.

It is another setback for Fonterra, which earlier this month announced it had found bacteria that could cause food poisoning in some products.

Fonterra had to apologise for a milk powder contamination scare in China after contaminated whey protein concentrate had been sold to China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Saudi Arabia, and used in products including infant milk powder and sports drinks.

The company said yesterday that a shipment of 42 tonnes of milk powder had also been halted at the Chinese border in May after tests showed nitrite levels higher than allowed in China, although it had been approved for export after testing in New Zealand. Nitrites occur naturally in water, soil and food and can be used as fertilisers and preservatives. Excessively high levels can be toxic.

Fonterra’s group director of food safety and quality, Ian Palliser, said the milk powder showed nitrite levels of between 1.4 parts per million and 1.8 ppm when shipped from New Zealand, but showed higher levels in Chinese tests.

‘‘The limit is 2 parts per million in China and the product tested at somewhere between 2.4 ppm and 2.8 ppm,’’ he told Radio New Zealand.

He added that China had a much lower threshold for nitrite levels than New Zealand, where levels of up to 5 ppm are considered safe for domestic consumption. The levels were ‘‘not a food safety issue whatsoever’’, Mr Palliser said.

‘‘The levels were below the New Zealand standards. This product could have been sold safely in New Zealand.’’

Fonterra said it had been in full control of the affected product and none of it had reached the retail supply chain.

Wellington has voiced frustrations over Fonterra’s foot dragging in disclosing the contamination issue, and during a visit to China yesterday, Foreign Minister Murray McCully sought to distance the country from Fonterra’s woes.

‘‘Fonterra has some work ahead of it in rebuilding Chinese consumer confidence,’’ he told reporters in Beijing after meetings with State Councillor Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

‘‘We expect from our exporters that there should not be any mistakes ... When Fonterra disappoints customers, they also disappoint New Zealand.’’

Mr Yang, in meetings with McCully, urged New Zealand to improve food safety, Chinese state media reported.