New Zealand wants answers

New Zealand yesterday demanded answers about how a false test reading triggered a botulism scare for diary giant Fonterra that forced global product recalls, describing the episode as a costly embarrassment.
Officials sounded the alarm earlier this month after tests showed batches of whey power produced by Fonterra were contaminated with the potentially fatal bug clostridium botulinum.
Infant formula was pulled off shelves from China to Saudi Arabia as New Zealand's reputation for producing the gold-standard foodstuffs that command top prices in Asia took a battering.
But it was revealed on Wednesday that subsequent tests had proved the contaminant was in fact a non-toxic bacterium called clostridium sporogenes and there had never been any danger to consumers.