By PHILIPPA STEVENSON
Fonterra has stored 2500 tonnes of listeria-infected and suspect Gouda cheese for a year, unable to find a way to dispose of it.
The cheese mountain, worth about $9 million, represents about 25 days' production for the Clandeboye, South Canterbury, factory where it was made last February -
and still remains.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the company said document traces showed no suspect cheese had been released to the New Zealand market, although 84 tonnes were exported to the Netherlands.
The company believed the exported cheese was bug-free but shipped it last year against MAF holding orders, after a ministry clerical error allowed it to go.
Dutch Customs detected the disease-causing bacteria last month and MAF ordered the cheese destroyed, or returned to New Zealand.
Most of it has been incinerated, though a small quantity which was released from storage is still being traced. It is thought reprocessing would have destroyed the listeria.
MAF Food Assurance Authority dairy products director Tim Knox said the contaminated Gouda stored here, including cheese deemed at risk of infection because it was made about the same time, was under an MAF order requiring disposal.
It was not suitable for human consumption but it could be used for other purposes, he said. It was up to the company to propose its fate and get MAF agreement.
Mike Willing, compliance manager for Fonterra manufacturing subsidiary NZMP, said disposal options were limited for such a large volume.
"You can either dig a big hole and bury it, or render it down. You've got very limited options."
Mr Knox said the length of time the cheese had been held at Clandeboye was not an issue. It was not uncommon for goods destined for market to be stored for years and MAF was happy with the progress of discussions on disposal.
The factory, near Timaru, processes 1.6 million tonnes of a range of products a year, including 40,000 tonnes of cheese.
