Two weeks ago, BayBuzz talked about a major export set-back for Kiwi flowers, when light brown apple moths were discovered in NZ shipments to California. The US Department of Agriculture banned further flower imports from NZ.
Over the past weekend, the news reported that one of NZ’s most lucrative dairy exports, lactoferrin, a milk protein used to supplement sports drinks and baby formula, has been found to be contaminated with melamine. The lactoferrin in question was discovered in China, as that country tries to identify its poisoned milk products.
NZ authorities haven’t yet been able to identify which of the three Kiwi manufacturers of lactoferrin is responsible for the export, or how the contamination occurred. One possibility being explored involves the role of an insecticide (cyromazine) which breaks down into melamine in mammals and is used by 24 livestock drenches and sprays in NZ. In other words, the melamine could have been in the raw milk.
Aren’t chemicals wonderful?!
And the melamine was found through testing in China … not by our own exporters or authorities.
Is the clock ticking on NZ’s international “clean, green” image?
Tom