Report reveals fear of toxins in milk

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Fungi that produce deadly toxins that could pass into the human food chain through cow's milk were found in imported palm kernel animal feed, according to a confidential AgResearch report that came to public attention only last week.

Green MP Sue Kedgley said she was "mystified" no further testing was ordered when the report's findings were made known in 2006.

According to the report, marked confidential and internal, scientists found "a variety of potentially harmful fungi that can produce mycotoxins and cause significant risk to animal health".

The report said, "it is of even more concern that some of the mycotoxins can be excreted in cow's milk and could consequently pose a threat to human health and create an export issue for New Zealand's dairy industry".

The research is being prepared for publication in an international journal but was last week discounted by the rural and food safety sectors, who said it posed no new human health risks, and the fungi was already in pasture.

Kedgley said toxins potentially produced by the fungi had been implicated as a cause of liver cancer. "Every which way you look at it, that's a serious health risk, as well as an export risk to our agricultural trade, and, I believe, a huge risk to our dairy exports if consumers globally work out that our so-called grass-fed cows are actually one of the largest consumers of palm kernel. Certainly they were last year."

Last week, the Sunday Star-Times revealed that in 2008, New Zealand imported a quarter of the total world supply of palm kernel expeller (PKE) 1.1 million tonnes. Dr Vengeta Rao, the secretary-general of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, the international body set up to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil, said very little of that would have been RSPO-certified.

Three years ago, when the AgResearch report was written, only 318,000 tonnes of PKE entered the country. PKE is controversial because of its environmental impact the loss of tropical rainforest and destruction of animal habitats.

The AgResearch report said that although importation standards required heat treatment before shipping, "mycotoxins produced by fungi would still be present as many mycotoxins are heat-tolerant" and it called for funding to carry out an extended survey to determine health and biosecurity risks of imported PKE.

Last week AgResearch would not name the report's recipients, but confirmed it was offered "to a whole raft of different agencies". No funding was forthcoming. "If such serious risks are presented, at the very least you would do some follow-up research," said Kedgley.

Federated Farmers said disclosure of the report was "reckless and irresponsible".

"AgResearch put together a draft report on the `shocking expose' that palm kernel expeller, when wet, attracts fungi," Lachlan McKenzie, dairy farmers chairman, said. "I understand some AgResearch scientists were touting for additional funding and didn't even bother with a toxicology test on what was found."

McKenzie said "most people don't believe the recycling of a waste by-product like palm kernel expeller into animal feed is a bad thing, so long as it comes from certified sources. Especially if that waste would otherwise be burnt or just left to rot".

AgResearch spokesman Jimmy Suttie said the initial work was unfunded and based on a scientist's curiosity. Further work had confirmed earlier findings.

"[But] the scientists did not investigate the toxicity of these fungi... I can confirm that all of the organisms the scientist found are already present in New Zealand."

Fonterra, the co-operative of 10,500 farmers who produce about 90% of NZ milk, said it was aware of the report.

"We do not believe it raises any new issues with regard to potential raw milk or product quality," said spokesman David Glendining. "We routinely test raw milk for aflatoxins, which can be present in feed which is not stored appropriately. This risk is common to most bulk supplementary feeds and we encourage farmers to employ best practice in both storage and feeding out to dairy cows."

Maf Biosecurity also said it did not believe there was a significant risk of toxic contamination.

"There have never been cases of toxins being found in dairy products in New Zealand linked to this source and as far as MAFBNZ is aware, no animals have ever become poisoned from eating palm kernel meal."

- © Fairfax NZ News