The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) of New Zealand has announced that it has revoked export certificates for four consignments of lactoferrin manufactured by Westland Milk Products after it found high levels of nitrate in the product.
Lactoferrin is a naturally occurring multifunctional protein found in milk.
The consignments came from two affected batches of lactoferrin manufactured by Westland at its facility in Hokitika. One batch was exported directly to China as an ingredient for other dairy products by Westland, while the second batch was supplied to Tatua Co-operative and also exported to China.
These consignments were accompanied by official export certificates stating that the product meets the New Zealand and China's regulatory requirements, based on testing of composited batches undertaken at the time of manufacturing.
Westland stated that a small proportion of the lactoferrin was used in consumer products. All of these products are confirmed as detained in the supply chain.
There was no affected lactoferrin used in products in New Zealand, the company said.
MPI acting director-general Scott Gallacher said: "MPI's technical experts have looked closely at this issue and believe any food safety risk to Chinese consumers is negligible because the quantities of lactoferrin used in consumer products was very small, meaning the nitrate levels in those products would easily be within acceptable levels."
This incident comes just weeks after Fonterra announced that its dairy ingredients were contaminated with bacteria that can cause botulism.
