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NEW ZEALAND HAS received an “eco-terrorist” threat to poison baby formula, Prime Minister John Key said today.
Police said they were taking the issue seriously after small packages of baby formula containing poison were sent with anonymous letters to the National Farmers Federation and dairy giant Fonterra.
Treating it seriously
“Whilst there is a possibility that this threat is a hoax, we must treat the threat seriously and a priority investigation is underway,” deputy commissioner Mike Clement said.
Authorities warned parents to examine packaging for signs of tampering and supermarkets removed formula cans from shelves to storerooms so shoppers could not access them directly.
Eco-terrorism
Police said the motive behind what they termed a blackmail attempt was the use of a poison called 1080 for pest control, which some critics say kills native wildlife.
Asked how he would characterise the threat, Key replied: “It’s a form of eco-terrorism without doubt.
The person’s motive is to try and bully the government into not using 1080 (but) the reality of anyone carrying out this threat are extremely low.
Even if it was a hoax, the scare comes at a sensitive time for New Zealand’s dairy industry, which is recovering from a botulism scare last year involving Fonterra.
It was eventually declared a false alarm but not before potentially toxic formula was yanked off shelves from China to Saudi Arabia.
New Zealand is the world’s largest dairy exporter and infant formula is a major component, with annual exports to China alone totalling NZ$3.0 billion (US$2.2 billion).
Infant Formula Exporters Association chairman Michel Barnett said the industry did not need another crisis.
“This could be extremely damaging for New Zealand’s exports offshore,” he told TVNZ.
The New Zealand Food and Grocery Council said extra testing had been introduced to reassure parents, adding that it had “absolute confidence” that products were safe.
Threat
The threat, originally made in November, was to contaminate products unless 1080 was banned by the end of March.
Clement said a team of 36 officers had been investigating the threat since November and appealed for public assistance tracking down the blackmailer.
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How the other half live eh?
But seriously though, doing well for a 28 year old, keep it up!
@Mary Walshe: indeed. Bring home the bacon despite no bacon
Good job! That’s my base salary here and I surely don’t have 10k after the taxes (which are used for only god’s know what with poor healthcare, poor education, expensive childcare, poor public service overall).
@Yvon Queguiner:
Poor Education?
@Yvon Queguiner: Education is the only service we’ve had that is decent, but yea slowly it’s being torn apart by misguided Irish opinion. Also add Housing and Transport.
@thesaltyurchin: Despite unrealistic public expectation and far too much of the funding wasted in bureaucracy, Ireland’s Health service is world class.
Before anyone says anything about the salary it’s very average for the UAE. As a past resident if I can one piece of advice to the 28 year old consultant. DO NOT take out any loans or credit cards that’s how they get to keep you as you are stuck if you do
Riveting!! Zzzzzzzzz
For some odd reason Engineering consultants in Ireland get half the rate than on the continent. The average charge out rate for a civil Engineer in Scandinavia is the equivalent of 188 euros an hour.
1125 for rent in the UAE , you wouldn’t get a bed sit in Waterford for that
@David Chadwick: yea but we’re all living the dream here.
@David Chadwick: well your property here probably wasn’t built using slave labour like there.
A salary of 120k is just over 1% of workers in ireland. But 54% are college educated in Ireland. From Revenue’s “Analysis of High Income Individuals”
@Communist Party: Well, ~14% of workers in Ireland are above €100k according to recent statistics perpetuated by Newstalk. I doubt €120k is a hard ceiling for said individuals.
He’s a peasant with that salary over there when everyone and their grandma drives a Rolls Royce.
@Kieran Menon: and you’re point being?
@Fuji Hakayito: he is
@Kieran Menon: Certainly not a peasant, on that salary he has a good standard of living. Remember it’s tax free, his healthcare is paid for, and by the way the healthcare system here is world class. VAT is only 5%, the weather is incredible 8 months of the year and petrol is far cheaper than back home. I live here too so I can attest to this. So he’s definitely doing better than he would be back in Ireland, that I know for sure
Fair play.
Work hard, take risks, get rewarded.
In Ireland people who do this are vilified by the Left and taxed mercilessly to pay for the perpetually lazy.
@Paul: You really do need to get over yourself and stop blaming everybody but yourself for your bad decisions that left you paying for someone else to live in ‘your’ house. It’s not the fault of ‘the left’, it’s yours and yours alone. Be a big boy now and own it and stop stamping your feet like a child whose ice-cram just fell on the floor.
fair play to you, far away hills are not green, make sure you dont come home !!
have your say