KEY POINTS:
There are so many questions over Fonterra's handling of the Sanlu melamine scandal. And even though Andrew Ferrier has finally decided to front the media, he's not making the situation any clearer.
He's quoted in the New Zealand Herald and on NewsTalk ZB as saying that when Fonterra
learned of the possible melamine contamination, he "scoured the world for information on melamine, to understand what the effects were on people, what the dangers were and so on".
Really? One of the big world players in food production and you've never heard of melamine and the health risks associated with it? That seems so far fetched to me.
I'd heard of melamine before August 2 last year. The world's press were full of stories of recalled products from China because of melamine contamination.
Maybe it's because I'm a journalist and I read the wires, but surely it's not unreasonable to think that anyone, especially at a senior level, who was employed in a multinational "global supplier of dairy ingredients" as Fonterra describes itself on its home page, would be aware of a commonly used contaminant.
In 2007, the New York Times reported that the addition of melamine to livestock feed and products for human consumption was an open secret.
And Fonterra wasn't aware a) of what melamine was or b) that the possibility existed that melamine could be used in the food industry?
The other question I have is if the three directors of Sanlu were demanding a recall of contaminated products and were getting nowhere through official channels, why didn't they blow the whistle?
If, after two days, three days, a week, diplomatic manoeuvres weren't working, why didn't they ring the New Zealand Herald or the New York Times?
I know the Chinese press wouldn't have had a bar of the story, especially given the Olympics were on, but other media would have taken their call.
Were the directors such company men that the future of Fonterra's investment was worth more than the lives of some nameless Chinese babies?
I know that cost benefit analyses are done all the time when it comes to making decisions.
And maybe there was an economic equation - keep quiet and there's a chance of salvaging our multi-million-dollar investment and protecting the interests of our shareholders - but I would hate to have to live with the consequences of staying silent.
By all accounts, it's difficult doing business in China but surely it's not difficult to do the right thing.
Fonterra has let down itself, its shareholders and the country.
* www.kerrewoodham.com
