Fonterra shocked by death penalties

Another who was involved in the deliberate contamination of milk powder, which led to the deaths of at least six infants and almost 300,000 illnesses, was given a suspended death sentence, according to an AFN report.

Fonterra’s CEO, Andrew Ferrier, advised that the company had refrained from making any comment on the criminal proceedings in China until he had had the opportunity to review the findings of the court. “It would have been irresponsible to comment on the published verdicts without first establishing a full understanding of the court’s decision,” he said.

Fonterra accepted the findings of the court, Mr Ferrier said, but opposed the death penalty.

“We have been shocked and disturbed by the information that has come to hand as a result of the judicial process,” he added. “Fonterra deeply regrets the harm and pain this tragedy has caused so many Chinese families.”

Mr Ferrier said he wished to reiterate very clearly that Fonterra had no knowledge of the criminal actions taken by the four Sanlu managers.

“We certainly would never have approved of these actions,” he said. “As we have stated throughout, Fonterra consistently pushed for a full public recall of contaminated product from 2 August, when we learned of the contamination. Additionally, Fonterra clearly communicated verbally and in writing to Sanlu that its product must contain no melamine.

Fonterra has now written off its $200m investment in Sanlu, with Sanlu last month filing for bankruptcy. Despite this, Sanlu was fined 50m yuan ($7.3m), according to Xinhua news agency reports, by the Chinese court.

[Sources: AFN, BBC]