Editorial: Whiff of milk powder threat lingers

Jeremy Hamish Kerr.

I remember wondering why there was always a staff member at New World in Hastings standing about with his hands behind his back in the pet food aisle.

On several occasions I'd noticed a staff member in the same spot. Finally I asked: "Why is there always someone standing here?"

She gestured to the baby milk powder, responding: "Guarding this."

"Are you kidding me?" I asked. No, she wasn't. It was weeks after Federated Farmers and Fonterra had received letters threatening to contaminate baby milk powder.

At the time I thought it must be someone with mental-health issues making these threats. Who else would do something so despicable?

Yesterday we learned that the man behind the threats, businessman Jeremy Hamish Kerr, was in fact sound in mind and was chasing the almighty dollar.

Kerr has pleaded guilty to two charges of blackmail, although he is disputing some of the facts. That just makes what he did so much worse.

Not only did he have every parent of a bottle-fed baby in New Zealand fearing for the life of their child, he also had retailers paying staff to literally do nothing.

I'm sure any business owner, no matter how big or small, would agree that unproductive people don't pay the bills.

The investigation into this threat cost police a staggering $3 million. That's $3 million of taxpayer money that will never be recovered.

Apart from the monetary cost, the damage to New Zealand's image is also tarnished forever - because although we know the baby food is fine, people reaching for our brands in other countries might just recall the scandal, hesitate and reach for another brand.