Fonterra is investigating yet another food-safety scare, this time involving cheese slices produced in Eltham, Taranaki.
Goodman Fielder NZ launched a voluntary food recall earlier this week, of its smoked flavoured Chesdale 12-pack slices due to the "possible presence of thin clear plastic in the cheese".
The slice-on-slice product is produced and wrapped at Fonterra's Collingwood St plant.
Fonterra's general manager operations for lower North Island, Scott Walls, said the issue was the result of the packaging film splitting as it was being applied, "leaving a thin strip of plastic stuck to the cheese when it is unwrapped".
"The affected product is isolated to one specific product run, on a single day," he said.
"We are conducting a full review of our packaging processes at the site and will be revising our processes accordingly."
He said the plant, which was the largest consumer cheese manufacturing operation in Australasia, produced 380 million slices of this product each year.
"Fonterra is committed to the highest standards of food safety and quality and we have robust quality systems in place throughout the business."
This latest problem comes almost a year after a tanker containing 1-2 kilograms of mud and gravel residue ended up being put through the company's Hawera-based cleaning system.
The milk carried by the six contaminated tankers, worth roughly $150,000, was disposed of at the Eltham wastewater treatment plant.
Two months before that, Fonterra took a huge hit to its image after the baby formula botulism false alarm set off a world-wide panic.
In a written statement, Goodman Fielder NZ said Chesdale Cheese Slices had a long-shelf life and consumers were urged not to eat the product under any circumstances.
"This recall applies only to Chesdale Cheese Slices 250g (12 single slices, smoked flavour) with the production date of 6 June 2014 and best before date of 5 June 2015," the food company said.
"This product is recalled as a precaution due to a possible choking hazard."
The company is advising purchasers to review date codes and contact the Consumer Advisory Centre on 0800 368 052 to obtain a full refund.
No other products are affected by the recall and both companies apologised for any inconvenience.
Source：NZFarmer.co.nz