Fonterra is conducting an internal investigation into the milk powder scandal that broke out in China relating to sale of its expired products.
Around 300 tonnes of Fonterra’s expired milk powder were found to be sold in China resulting in the arrest of 19 people, reported NZ Herald.
The arrested were allegedly operating a company dealing in packaging expired Fonterra products. They were reportedly repackaging them into smaller packages and reselling them below market prices.
Fonterra spokeswoman Maree Wilson has been quoted by the publication as saying: “Chinese officials have stated in the media that several different parties are allegedly involved in this case.
"Fonterra provides guidelines to the customers we sell products to directly on how expired or damaged product should be managed in a responsible way and we expect these to be adhered to. In this case, it seems the issues have occurred much further along the supply chain, not with a direct customer."
According to Fonterra, none of the 19 arrested were its employees or had any sort of association with it. The dairy company has also quickly condemned the milk powder scandal.
Chinese police had carried out investigation for a long time which revealed that one of the suspects had sold the expired milk powdered products to a company, which, in turn, is said to have resold around 200 tonnes to distributors in different provinces. The distributors took to the e-commerce platforms to sell them in wholesale.
It has been reported in the Chinese media that the authorities have seize 100 tonnes of the expired Fonterra products while closing down the websites that sold unauthorized products.
