Fonterra's whey protein review findings: what went wrong?

Fonterra has pointed to number of separate events that came together in an unforeseen sequence in an operational review of its recent whey protein scare.

Fonterra's decision to reprocess the original WPC80 and not downgrade the product, in combination with the use of an item of non-standard equipment, was the cause of the contamination, according to the findings of the internal review.

The company also found that the issue should have been escalated to CEO-level earlier, and a major upgrade of the computer systems at some of its sites immediately prior to the recall resulted in product tracing taking longer than it should have.

It also found a one-off lapse in information sharing across two parts of the business led to delays in testing, and the size and complexity of the WPC80 recall was a factor, particularly given the product had itself become an ingredient in the products of multiple customers.

According to Fonterra, one of its objectives is to strengthen its product recall and supply management systems which allow the tracing of all product that is in its control, and collaborate with customers on how to link different supply chains and quickly trace products.

“The Operational Review has enabled us to strengthen our systems, while continuing to process this season’s fast-growing milk flows,” said the company's CEO, Theo Spierings.

“At Fonterra, we already have world-class manufacturing facilities, quality systems, and robust testing regimes in place. This event has stress-tested all of them. Overall our systems worked well, while some aspects showed room for further improvement.”