The speed with which the Food Safety Authority and the Minister of Finance leapt to the defence of Fonterra this week is not only an unseemly display of public organisation support for a private corporation, in the case of the NZFSA it is a significant failure of that organisation’s responsibility for protecting public health for sub-standard food production.
Claims of Fonterra’s pristine public health record by the Minister of Finance seem to be well outside his ministerial responsibilities. Even the Minister of Agriculture would be outside his zone of responsibility for commenting on a situation that demands accurate science to reveal precisely what has caused the claimed infant food contamination in China.
Given that Fonterra is not denying that it supplied a large portion of the ingredients used in producing the questionable Synutra infant formula, there is at least a chance that the hormone responsible could have come from Fonterra supplied products.
Before jumping to a position of unquestioning support for a company whose poor public health record in China is a matter of record, the least senior government ministers should do is treat the situation with caution.
An investigation of the situation in New Zealand further highlights the need for caution. Oestradiol is commonly found in the pharmaceutical supplies available to local veterinarians, and was legally used as a fertility treatment on New Zealand dairy farms as recently as two years ago. So there is a possibility, however tiny, that the source of this claimed contamination could be New Zealand.
In this case, three questions need to be asked: Could oestradiol still be used in local dairying? Could its use as a reproductive medication leave residues in milk powder? Does Fonterra have a sound system of testing for such contamination should it occur?
As if Bill English’s misplaced enthusiasm for Fonterra’s squeaky clean reputation was not enough reason for embarrassment; that of the Food Safety Authority was also reason for concern. Not only is public health in China well outside the NZFSA’s brief, it is inappropriate that a public watchdog organisation that has a fundamental responsibility for impartiality should leap to protect the public relations capital of a local company.
If the claims of contaminated milk powder had originated in New Zealand, with local infants having their endocrine systems disrupted by dirty dairy, would we be happy for the NZFSA to fire off untested opinions about the faultless status of Fonterra? It is fair to ask of this organisation whether public health is their priority, or the economic welfare of dairying?
It may be that the mounting pressure to have the NZFSA as a division of the Department of Agriculture, as its British sister organisation is becoming, is already affecting the performance of the NZFSA.
NZFSA gave its PR support of Fonterra a scientific patina by declaring that growth hormones were banned from use in the New Zealand dairy industry. Putting aside the argument that being illegal does not mean being completely absent, oestradiol is not a growth promoting hormone for dairy farmers. Indeed, why would dairy farmers induce bigger cows by using growth hormone. That is what meat farmers do.
So was the NZFSA simply incompetent in making this claim, or is there an agenda here, one to confuse the general public by making false assurances about their beloved dairy industry. That is the sort of cheerleading we expect from Federated Farmers, which they duly delivered. But from the NZFSA, when our health is at stake, we should surely expect higher standards and at least a ghost of impartiality.
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Keith,
It sounds like you are politicking again. My advice: leave it to the marxists and green activists and stick to reporting on activities in the food industry.
Keith,
Milk has natural levels of hormones from the cow, for instance Walstra & Jenness, Dairy Chemistry and Physics indicate in chapter 8.1 level for progesterone at 10-30, estrone 28 and estradiol at 175 microgram/kg. It is not unusual for overzealous analyst to think they have found contamination, but in actual fact they are natural levels. Has happened in the past with Japan who have tried to stop shipments of dairy products on that basis.
Dear Keith, Neither a Marxist or a green activist simply a dairy farmers wife and a mother.The NZFSA has an unusual culture that needs far closer public scrutiny. It also needs a more robust approach to public health.I was extremely concerned that at a Grower conference a woman from NZTE declared the Melamine debacle a storm in a teacup.Baby formula controversies are ugly and don’t go away.Keep up the good work as you are right on the money.If these were kiwi babies what then?