Epicurean Dairy Limited, the New Zealand dairy company behind The Collective yoghurt brand, has been fined a total of $483,000 by a New Zealand district court for failing to report positive listeria results.
An investigation by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) found that between 2012 and 2016 Epicurean Dairy deliberately withheld positive listeria results taken from the company’s factory in Avondale and falsified official related records.
The dairy company, whose products include a “lil suckies” yoghurt range for kids stocked at Woolworths, faced Waitakere District Court on Wednesday with former general manager Angus Allan pleading guilty to a total of 10 charges.
Allan was fined $54,000 for his part in the cover up, with the company fined $369,000 and court costs of $80,000 also imposed.
The company’s former operations manager, Ilya Pyzhanhov, was convicted and fined $60,000 earlier this year after pleading guilty to five charges of deliberately withholding positive environmental listeria results.
The MPI began investigating the business after receiving credible information about the West Auckland company from a confidential source.
MPI’s director of compliance, Gary Orr, says that from 2012 to 2016 a total of 190 positive listeria results went unreported.
“This was serious, systematic and sustained deception – there’s no other way to describe it,” Orr said in a statement from MPI.
“The company was regularly audited to ensure its manufacturing environment was in accordance with regulatory requirements but it lied about what the true situation was.”
Orr said the area that tested positive for listeria results was where yogurt and cheese was being produced for human consumption, and therefore an area requiring the most stringent food safety.
“It’s clear that if the company had reported the positive results, there would’ve been significant costs associated with remedying the problem, which included replacing a cracked and unhygienic floor, as well as a halt to production due to the work that needed to be done.
“There is no excuse for this type of blatant and sustained offending. When offending of this nature is detected, we will hold those responsible for it to account.”
Fortunately, no product was affected and there were no impact to consumer health. The company has since replaced the worn factory floor where the listeria was present and continues to operate without further issues.
The Collective was founded in 2009 by Allan and Ofer Shenhav. Within 10 months it became New Zealand’s best selling premium yoghurt. Its products are now available in the UK, Asia, Pacific and the Middle East.
