It has been confirmed that at least two babies have died in China after drinking milk formula tainted with melamine, a substance used in plastics, fertilisers, glues and flame retardants. The milk powder was made by Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co Ltd, a company that is 43% owned by New Zealand based dairy giant Fonterra and has three Fonterra directors on its board. The company is claiming that the milk powder had been sabotaged, and contamination during the production, storage and sales process was not a possibility. Yet Fonterra, which was first advised that there was a problem with the contamination of infant formula on August 2, has still come under criticism.

Green Party MP and food safety advocate Sue Kedgely told TVNZ “Basically, in a situation like this, it is incumbent on Fonterra to be open and upfront. Depending on the level of Fonterra’s involvement, there are potentially very serious repercussions for Fonterra’s global reputation.”
The social-democratic Alliance party has been even harsher in its criticism, spokesperson Victor Billot was quoted on the party’s website saying “What kind of checks and regulation by Fonterra of their Chinese operations were carried out? I’m sure they checked out how much cash would be in it for them, so why didn’t they check the safety of the production facilities?” Billot went on to say that this tragedy “exposes the utter hypocrisy and bankruptcy of the clean, green New Zealand brand.”