Fonterra cancels regional launch of milk in schools programme

Photo / Christine Cornege

Fonterra has cancelled a Wellington regional launch of its milk in schools programme following the whey contamination scandal.

Kay McGill, spokeswoman for Fonterra and milk for schools, said the rollout would still go ahead this week, but all launches would be cancelled.

Mrs McGill said the contamination scare would not impact on the ongoing operations of Fonterra's milk for schools but the launches were cancelled to allow staff to focus on resolving it.

In a letter to schools, Fonterra said: "We are personally disappointed we won't be able to celebrate this milestone with you, however we believe this course of action is the right thing to do. Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience the short notice cancellation may cause you''.

The letter also said food safety was Fonterra's No 1 priority.

"We have thorough processes in place to ensure the safety of all of our products. You may have seen over the weekend that these processes picked up a potentially serious issue with particular type of whey protein concentrate - that was produced at one of Fonterra's New Zealand manufacturing sites.

The letter to schools said the issue was an isolated one and did not affect dairy products going into schools like fresh milk, yoghurt, cheese, spreads and UHT milk products.

Fonterra was also supposed to host an informal lunch with MPs and others at the Backbencher restaurant and bar on Thursday to celebrate the arrival of the programme in the Wellington region but that has also been cancelled.