The New Zealand (NZ) Government on Sunday assured the safety of its milk and dairy products, quickly responding to local weekend newspapers reports that imported milk could be unsafe for consumption.
“There is no need for consumers in Sri Lanka to be concerned about the safety and quality of New Zealand dairy products. Extensive research has shown no food safety risk at the levels of DCD detected. It is of very low toxicity, and even with extremely high doses it has been difficult to identify any adverse effects,†a statement issued by the country’s high commission in New Delhi, said.
Speaking in Parliament on Friday, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, urged the public to refrain from drinking imported powdered milk saying there could be hazardous chemicals. He did not specify the source of imports but New Zealand is Sri Lanka’s biggest source of imported milk powder. The Sunday Times also reported that New Zealand officials had tried to persuade the Atomic Energy Authority against carrying tests for radiation levels in the milk.
Faced with a possible negative impact on New Zealand milk that could spread across the world, that Government moved fast to allay fears of contamination. “The New Zealand Government can assure all consumers that New Zealand dairy products are safe. The New Zealand Government’s senior official for food safety, Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) Director General, Wayne McNee, has previously acknowledged that low levels of DCD have been detected in a small number of New Zealand milk powder products. (Mr.) McNee is clear however there is no food safety risk. In New Zealand no dairy products are being withdrawn from sale, because they are all safe for consumers,†the statement said.
It said DCD itself is not poisonous. It is a non-harmful, water soluble compound that has been used in fertilisers on pastures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the leaching of nitrogen into waterways.
The statement added that despite DCD being safe, New Zealand has stopped using DCD while New Zealand considers whether to seek an international standard and what other steps should be taken concerning the use of DCD.
It said the MPI notified New Zealand’s trading partners, including Sri Lanka, about the presence of low levels of DCD in some New Zealand milk product in January 2013.
“MPI has directly provided the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health and Sri Lankan Standards Institute with several updates since then, including health risk assessments based on reviews of the scientific literature about DCD residues and the results of extensive testing of New Zealand products,†it said.
In a lengthy statement, the NZ Government said:
“Extensive testing undertaken in New Zealand by MPI and the New Zealand dairy industry has revealed that the small amounts of DCD in some New Zealand dairy products was many times below unsafe levels.
Those tests, of more than 2000 samples, specifically targeted milk produced in areas where DCD fertiliser was most widely used. It also spanned the period when DCD fertiliser was applied to New Zealand pastures up to, and beyond, January 2013 when it was voluntarily withdrawn from use.
The tests were conducted to ensure there was no food safety risk and to provide our trading partners with the information they need to make decisions about whether to allow New Zealand milk products to be imported.
To date no country has rejected any New Zealand product on the basis of DCD and the vast majority of New Zealand’s trading partners have formally accepted New Zealand’s assurances that New Zealand dairy product is safe.
Dairy products consumed in New Zealand are made from the same milk as products that are exported.  When low levels of DCD were first discovered in some New Zealand dairy products it was quickly established that it presented no food safety risk. That’s why no dairy products were ever withdrawn because of DCD in New Zealand.â€
Source: Sunday Times