Fonterra in battle with Sri Lankan authority

Pressured by doctors and the New Zealand government's botulism alert, which was issued over the weekend resulting in China and Russia recalling milk products from that country, Health Ministry officials on Thursday decided to suspend sales of all milk products imported from New Zealand, particularly those from Fonterra.

Sri Lanka's neighbor Maldives has also pulled Fonterra products off shelves, media reported.

Responding to a question by Xinhua Clement stated that the company is yet to calculate its losses from the DCD and botulism scare but it could run to tens of millions given its high presence in the local market.

According to the Fonterra website, its powder plant in Colombo' s outskirts packs 475,000 packs of milk each day and blends 5,270 metric tons of milk powder every month. Its liquid counterpart processors produce half a million yoghurt cups a day and 10,370 tons of cultured products, 850 tons of pasteurized milk and 2460 tons of UHT products every year. Some of the liquid dairy is procured from 4000 odd local farmers.

Fonterra is New Zealand's largest company with revenues of around NZ$20 billion ($16.8 billion), with 90 percent of the milk collected being exported around the world.