Kerre McIvor: Fonterra has some explaining to do about botulism and secrecy

Farmers, Fonterra's shareholders, are absolutely ropeable over the botulism scandal. Photo / NZ Herald

If you've had a bad week at work, I hope you're having a relaxing and wonderful weekend.

And no matter how bad your week was, it surely can't have been as bad as the week the Fonterra management and board have had.

The dairy giant is as toxic as the botulism strain found in its whey product.

It bumbled from one public relations disaster to another.

Parents are justifiably terrified and angry at discovering the infant milk formula they have been using may have been tainted.

Farmers, Fonterra's shareholders, are absolutely ropeable.

The Government is furious.

Other exporters of primary produce are worried their goods will be tainted by the bad publicity.

And the overseas media is having great fun mocking our "100 per cent pure" marketing.

I'm no conspiracy theorist, but as Fonterra moves from damage control to finding out how and why this stuff-up happened, I'd like it to explain how the contamination occurred in May last year and yet it wasn't until March of this year that it was "discovered" and August before the contamination was made public. Would it have anything to do with Fonterra floating its shares in November 2012?