By Ellen Butcher, Senior Researcher
Fonterra, the global dairy giant, has been fighting fires for the past month after it issued blanket product recalls to contain a botulism scare. Now this global scandal and the subsequent damage to New Zealand’s clean-and-green brand seems to have been all for nothing.
New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries has revealed that the bacteria in Fonterra’s whey product had been misidentified. Instead of the feared Clostridium botulinum, the product contained a harmless strain of Clostridium sporogenes.
Good news indeed.
But Fonterra shouldn’t be in too much of a rush to pat themselves on the back for their disclosure and recalls. They did what they had to. Fonterra thought that their product was contaminated with a toxic substance and this fact alone necessitated immediate disclosure and complete transparency. As the Fonterra Chief Executive, Theo Spierings, stated; “If we had not acted on this, and if something had happened with one child in the world, then it would have caused a massive reputation issue in the long term…”.
But the incident has already caused a massive reputational impact, not just for Fonterra but for many other food exporters in New Zealand.
Though welcome, this twist in the story just raises a more troubling question: if the laboratories mistook a non-toxic strain for a potential killer, couldn’t they do the reverse?
Instead of relaxing, the New Zealand government and Fonterra need to be quick to follow through on their planned investigations to reassure consumers. Just as with they did with incident itself, they will need to go public with the results in quick time. They’ll then need to outline exactly what they will do to address any issues in the long-term. Concerned consumers will demand, and deserve, no less.
Transparency and accountability are a package deal: you can’t do one without the other. The eyes of the world are now following Fonterra’s every move. They, and New Zealand, can’t afford to make the same mistake twice.