China will not tolerate another slip-up from Fonterra, with the dairy giant caught up in its third contamination scare there since 2008, says a marketing expert.
New Zealand's clean, green image is being rabidly attacked 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 the state-run Xinhua news agency, widely regarded as a mouthpiece of China's Government, went as far as saying this 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.
The botulism scare follows January's dicyandiamide (DCD) debacle, when traces of the nitrate inhibitor used on farmland were found in Fonterra milk, prompting an outcry from Chinese consumers highly sensitive to any news of adulterants in dairy products.