Fonterra is investigating another contamination scare, this time involving tankers carrying raw milk.
A truck and trailer unit which had been carrying mud and gravel was accidentally put through Fonterra’s cleaning system at the Whareroa plant in Taranaki.
Fourteen tankers were contaminated with the mud before the error was caught, including six which had gone on to pick up raw milk.
The Daily News understands the mud was oil and gas drilling waste, but Fonterra was unable to confirm this tonight.
Fonterra’s general manager operations for lower North Island Scott Walls said the six tankers which had picked up milk were intercepted before they reached processing plants.
«We isolated the system and isolated those tankers.»
The CIP system had to be cleaned out twice before it was deemed to be safe to use, a process which took about 10 hours on Saturday, Mr Walls said.
The milk the six contaminated tankers were carrying, worth roughly $150,000, was disposed of at a wastewater treatment plant in Taranaki.
The problem came as the dairy company tries to rebuild its image after the August baby formula botulism scare which set off a global panic. It turned out to be a false alarm.
An inquiry report released this week said there were 21 key «decision points» where choices had to be made within Fonterra which could have led to better outcomes to the botulism issue.
The Fonterra board-commissioned independent inquiry made 33 recommendations to address the issues that led to the product recall and affected Fonterra’s responses to the event.
Source:Stuff