China will not tolerate another slip-up from Fonterra, with the dairy giant caught up in its third contamination scare there since 2008. Recently the country took in more than $3bn of New Zealand dairy products.

Now New Zealand’s clean, green image is being eroded in the Chinese media after revelations at the weekend that a number of the dairy firm’s customers used whey protein that may be contaminated with botulism-causing bacteria to manufacture consumer products, including infant formula.

In an editorial article in the state-run Xinhua news agency this afternoon, widely regarded as a mouthpiece of China’s Government, it went as far as saying the country’s 100 per cent Pure Tourism campaign is now a “festering sore” and suggested New Zealand would be abandoned by its major trading partners if “systemic” food safety issues were not fixed.

Domestic regulations

Meanwhile China this afternoon published a draft regulation on domestic infant formula production to seek public opinions, which will raise standards in the sector in an all-round way, said its State Food and Drug Administration.

It requires infant formula producers to implement the management systems of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point and Good Manufacturing Practice. The draft is aimed at improving the quality of domestic-brand infant formulas, the reputation of which was seriously undermined by the tainted milk scandal in 2008, and it is seen as a signal to boost domestic milk production.