A ship was forced to unload 1.7 million trays of Kiwifruit export from New Zealand at Tauranga, as it was investigated and found that mechanical lubricant were found on some plastic tray liners, sparking concerns of contamination.
Chief Operating Officer Report:
- Estimates say only one in 8000 of the 1.7 million trays were at risk
- Four other ships, already on water were also suspected to contain the trays
- Only some of the trays coming from the Chinese factory are under scanner
- Assured that the ship won’t reach the distribution chain
- Kiwifruit packhouses were responsible for ordering their own Chinese tray liners that contaminated the shipment
Three of the ships on the water heading to markets in China and Taiwan had relatively small volumes of kiwifruit, with the Star Prima heading to Japan holding the bulk of the product identified as being at risk from contamination.
Laboratories have been analysing the lubricant and results were expected in the next couple of days.
Source: NZ Herald
