Kedgley Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Kedgley Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:618;Page:14301] 
5.  
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
 to the  
Minister for Food Safety 
: Why has she not used her powers under section 40 of the Food Act 1981 to issue a mandatory recall of all food products that contained cornflour that was contaminated with lead 100 times above the maximum level accepted under New Zealand standards? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Acting Minister for Food Safety) 
: There is no need. The New Zealand Food Safety Authority has worked closely with the companies involved and where it has been necessary product recalls have been effected. There has been complete cooperation from the companies. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Is the Minister aware of recent research such as the 2003 definitive study in the  
New England Journal of Medicine  
that concludes that any lead exposure whatsoever may lead to irreversible intellectual impairment in children and why therefore is the so-called Food Safety Authority falsely telling New Zealanders that there are no short or long term effects from consuming cornflour contaminated with lead? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: The Food Safety Authority is not misleading New Zealanders in any way at all. It is undertaking tests of a number of food products—approximately 30—to identify whether there are any excessive levels of lead contaminant. Where there are identified levels above that accepted in New Zealand or in Australia those products are being recalled. 
Steve Chadwick 
: Would country-of-origin labelling have helped this situation? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: No. This cornflour was a product made in New Zealand; the cornflour being generally milled from New Zealand corn and imported corn being used only when New Zealand corn was not available. Country-of-origin labelling for every ingredient particularly minor ones is impractical and costly and that cost would eventually be passed on to the consumer. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Does the Minister dispute the statement made by Hutt Valley medical health officer Stephen Palmer that: “Lead is a really hazardous substance especially for small children. Relatively low doses can in very young children affect the neurological system and slow development. It shouldn’t be in food.”; if not why did the Minister of Health claim in a statement made today that for any lasting damage people would need to have an ongoing intake of high levels of lead? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: In response to the second part of the question because that is the truth. We do realise the potential danger from excessive and prolonged exposure to lead. I am very pleased to say though that between 1982 and 1998 dietary lead exposure decreased by over 95 percent in the diet of the average New Zealander. We are very aware of the potential danger. That is why the Food Safety Authority is moving quickly on this issue. 
Sue Kedgley 
: What advice does the Minister have for the father who phoned me last night worried sick because his daughter has glycogen storage disease which requires her to eat corn maize every 2 hours and for other parents who are desperately worried because their children had consumed large amounts of this recalled product—Robinson’s Step Up Egg Custard—over the last 6 months? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: While it is very hard not being an expert to give specific advice on that issue I suggest that every parent in the country should give their children a balanced diet and consuming a large number of packets of egg custard is probably not healthy in any way for any child. 
Sue Kedgley 
: What confidence can the public have in the Food Safety Authority when it found this significant contamination only by accident and then set about downplaying the dangers to the public in spite of scientific evidence to the contrary? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: The Food Safety Authority has not downplayed the danger. It has acted swiftly on this issue. It has exposed through normal monitoring through the Total Diet Survey in this country something that this country does at world’s best practice—that is assessing the intake of the average New Zealander’s diet. We have done this well. We have exposed a problem and we are moving on it quickly. 
Rod Donald 
: Does the minister agree with the statement made by the Food Safety Authority’s director of domestic and imported food Tim Knox in today’s Christchurch  
Press 
: “The rapid growth in food imports since 1996 exposed the country to new risks.”; if so why does his Government continue to oppose country-of-origin labelling of food and why does he continue to deny New Zealand consumers the right to know where their food comes from so they can decide for themselves what level of risk they are willing to bear when they buy overseas-produced food? 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: As I pointed out in answer to the first supplementary question country-of-origin labelling would not necessarily ensure that we knew where every product came from if some of that food was manufactured in this country. That is accepted as international practice around country-of-origin labelling. The most important thing is that the Food Safety Authority has a robust system of ensuring that every New Zealander has access to safe food and that wherever we expose some problems we act on that promptly. We are doing so now. 
Sue Kedgley 
: I seek leave to table from the  
New England Journal of Medicine 
 a recent definitive study showing that intellectual impairment of children can occur even with extremely infinitesimal amounts of lead. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. This is naturally a topic that I take a great deal of interest in. I am wondering whether the member will give us some assurance that the member for New Lynn is not currently demonstrating with his hair colour an excessive consumption of lead. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: This is one of those rare occasions when I am completely lost for words.