Yet another dairy contamination scare in New Zealand - this time involving Westland Milk Products in China - "couldn't come at a worse time", the Prime Minister John Key says.
The NZ Ministry for Primary Industries has revoked export certificates for four consignments of the company's lactoferrin powder, an iron-binding protein in milk, after unacceptable levels of nitrates were found in two batches.
The contamination was discovered by Chinese officials and it's not year clear why it wasn't picked up in testing in New Zealand.
The products have been traced and quarantined, and none have been sold to consumers.
Westland said early investigations suggested the contamination was an isolated incident in the lactoferrin plant, where traces of cleaning products containing nitrates were not adequately flushed out prior to a new run of product.
It was not a food safety issue as lactoferrin is only a very minor ingredient in food products, so levels would have been well-below allowed limits, Westland chief executive Rod Quin says.
The incident comes just over two weeks after Fonterra revealed it had discovered bacteria that can cause botulism in 38 metric tonnes of whey protein concentrate manufactured at its Hautapu plant near Cambridge - with that contamination attributed to a dirty pipe.
Mr Key says the timing of the latest scare could not be worse.
"Clearly we're operating in a more sensitive environment so it's particularly unhelpful."
He revealed government ministers knew about the issue last week, and he found out on Friday morning - yet Westland did not go public until Monday morning, just hours before the government unveiled its draft terms of reference for an inquiry into the Fonterra scandal.
Mr Key says the delay was because the issue did not involve the New Zealand market, and the government's primary concern was for MPI and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to work with Chinese authorities.
Labour says the latest incident shows the need for greater government oversight of food production systems, and a reassessment of the dairy industry's self-regulation.
