A second Chinese baby has now died in China's poisoned milk disaster. The milk is produced by Sanlu, a company part-owned by New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra.
Fonterra's chief executive now says despite a recall of the product, supplies may still be on sale.
Thousands of tonnes of contaminated baby formula have, so far, been swept from shelves across China after 580 babies developed kidney stones from drinking it. Two have died so far, and that number could go higher still.
"It's hard to say whether it's still on sale in parts of China," says Fonterra CEO Andrew Ferrier. "We cannot know for certain that it's all gone."
Speaking by video link from Singapore, Fonterra's chief executive says a trade recall of the milk powder began on August 2, but Chinese families were not told until last week, and only after Prime Minister Helen Clark intervened.
Mr Ferrier says he is frustrated.
"This is a very big issue and should have been in the public domain sooner."
Clark says Fonterra pushed hard for a full recall, and approached her when it was unable to get Chinese authorities to act.
"When it came to me and other ministers, we said to officials not to hold back," she says. "We are not going to have this on our conscience."
Chinese investigators say raw milk was contaminated with melamine, a toxic chemical used in plastics, before it reached Sanlu.
China has detained 19 people, but none of them are employed by either Sanlu or Fonterra.
A Chinese human rights activist living in Auckland says the timing of the tragedy was significant.
"On the second of August the New Zealand side, Fonterra, already asked the local government to recall the contaminated milk powder, but the local government ignored it because it's so close to the Olympic Games," says Chen.
He says it will have a big impact on Fonterra's reputation in China.
"It's a big warning for all New Zealand companies. If you want to do business with China, it's a good thing, but you have to be extremely careful in China, especially the food industry."
Fonterra's chief executive would not comment on a cover-up, but confirms the milk was sabotaged.
The next question is, why? Mr Ferrier refused to speculate on whether the melamine was added to build up the protein content of the milk or deliberately to damage Sanlu because of its connection with Fonterra.
3 News
source: newshub archive
