Lid kept on milk powder scare

A melamine scare was kept from the public for 10 days amid concern that revealing the killer compound's presence in the food chain would hurt New Zealand's trade deals.

The silence was maintained even though it took seven of those 10 days to get test results that assured the New Zealand Food Safety Authority there was no danger to human health.

The finding was based on tests carried out by Fonterra. The authority did not begin its own independent testing until a day after it told the public that melamine levels were too low to cause harm.

The February scare came months after a Fonterra subsidiary was embroiled in the China baby milk scandal, which led to the serious injury and deaths of children who had drunk contaminated milk powder.

In this case, melamine found its way into New Zealand through an iron additive imported from a German company.

The detail of how the authority handled the contamination problem in February is revealed in documents released to the Herald on Sunday under the Official Information Act.

They show that on February 10, a European supplier alerted Fonterra to the presence of melamine in a compound used in making milk powder.

Fonterra told the NZFSA the following day and said it was supplying ingredients to an Australian laboratory to see how much of the compound was present.

Test results confirmed on February 18 that melamine levels were very low.

The following day, the NZFSA briefed its minister Kate Wilkinson, and on her instruction, prepared a press release to tell the New Zealand public what had happened.

But the papers show that before the public was told, the NZFSA made sure it had briefed the European Union, United States, Canada, Australia and all New Zealand embassies.

The public was told there was no danger to health, as melamine was present at such low levels it did not register when diluted for use in food products.

The following day - February 22 - the NZFSA took its own samples to carry out independent tests. The results backed Fonterra's findings.

The delays in informing the public have been slammed by Green MP and food safety campaigner Sue Kedgley.

She said the public should have been told as soon as the NZFSA was informed.

"It's absolutely clear their initial reaction was to protect Fonterra, our trade, our exports."

She was also critical of the NZFSA allowing Fonterra to do initial testing and not carrying out its own checks until almost a fortnight after the contamination was discovered.

The NZFSA defended its handling of the scare. Standards director Carol Barnao said releasing information before knowing the result of Fonterra's tests could have caused unnecessary fear. "We had evidence of no safety concerns on the 18th when results came through. Then there was a need to alert our trading partners."

Barnao said the NZFSA had total confidence in Fonterra's testing system because it sent samples to a Government-approved lab.

david.fisher@heraldonsunday.co.nz