I’m less likely to trust them too

by frog

No, not Clark and Key this time. In the Business section of the Dominion Post today:

More than half of Chinese consumers say they are now less likely to trust New Zealand food products after the melamine contamination scandal, according to a just-released survey.

And:

Sinogie Consulting chief executive Bruce McLaughlin, who is based in Shanghai, said he was surprised New Zealand’s reputation as a food producer had not suffered more.

“People are well aware that it was Fonterra who was involved with Sanlu,” he said.

Which is a good reminder how important our reputation as a clean, green producer of food is to us, and how easily it can be dented by reckless profiteering.  Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Fonterra’s Anchor range is also taking a hit to its reputation, with three products being called in for testing for melamine by the Philippines’ Bureau of Food and Drugs .

And, possibly the bit we should be most worried about is towards the bottom of that story:

New Zealand’s Food Safety Authority has said that, from tomorrow, customs checks would identify risky consignments at the border and these would be tested.

Tomorrow?  That’s only like 46 days since New Zealand was alerted to the melamine scandal in China.

frog says

Published in Health & Wellbeing by frog on Mon, September 29th, 2008   

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