Higher dairy export prices have driven New Zealand's terms of trade to their highest point since 1973, Statistics NZ says.

Fonterra has to lift its game in food safety and quality, and also sustainability, says chief executive Theo Spierings.

Seven Fonterra workers treated after a toxic fumes scare today have all been discharged from hospital, and five have already returned to work.

The loosening of China's one-child policy is expected to provide a boost for New Zealand infant formula exporters.

New Zealand and Australian employees of infant formula manufacturer Nutricia could be the latest victims of Fonterra's botulism botch-up.

Units in the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund traded at their lowest point in just under a year after the dairy co-op said it had factored in a $157 million loss provision.

Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings says the roll-out of the dairy co-op's infant formula brand in China is "on track" despite the ongoing fallout from the company's botulism fiasco.

Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings says the company is "eight to 10 years" behind other dairy players overseas when it comes to sustainability.

Prices of dairy products fell in the second straight GlobalDairyTrade auction overnight.

Fonterra says the potential contamination of 14 milk tankers with mud and gravel is a "very minor incident" and its safety systems worked as intended.

That the scare turned out to be the result of a false positive test does not mitigate the need for Fonterra to up its game, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

An independent inquiry into Fonterra's botulism scare has revealed a broken torch sparked the contamination scandal.

Fonterra failed to recognise the "explosive reputational risk" involved in the botulism scare, an independent inquiry has found.

French food giant Danone says it will lose more than half a billion dollars in sales in the current financial year as a result of Fonterra's botulism false alarm.

An infant formula exporter has slammed the service a taxpayer-funded business support centre in Shanghai provided to a delegation of New Zealand companies.

Fonterra's botulism scare will be one of the key themes of this year's China Business Summit, which takes place today.

There is understandable concern that the recent food contamination scandals in China could have a corrosive effect on the trading relationship between China and New Zealand.

While New Zealand's exports to China have soared since the free trade agreement between the two countries came into effect, industry leaders say this country still needs to up its game when doing business in the world's second-biggest economy.