Dairy Food Safe Victoria probe into trucking contractor linked to Saputo

Staff at Saputo’s Leongatha plant last month discovered a large amount of metal filings and mud inside a tanker belonging to a trucking contractor, it has been alleged.

Allansford Saputo Factory. Photo by Chloe Smith.

SAPUTO is refusing to answer questions over its links to an unlicensed trucking contractor being probed by Victoria’s dairy safety regulator.

Staff at Saputo’s Leongatha plant last month discovered a large amount of metal filings and mud inside a tanker belonging to a trucking contractor, according to media reports.

Photographs of the metal filings, believed to be residual aluminium from crushed beer cans, were sent to Dairy Food Safe Victoria and Saputo management.

Investigators also received photographs of curdled milk which Nine reported as being found inside one of the contractor’s tankers in January.

Most of the milk products transported by the contractor are used in baby formula and whey protein.

The trucking contractor under scrutiny is Maffra-based Bulk Liquid Carriers Proprietary Limited, which applied to Dairy Food Safe Victoria last year for a licence to transport milk products.

The Weekly Times asked Saputo management a series of questions, including:

WHY did Bulk Liquid Carriers originally win the contract to transport milk for Saputo?

WAS there an open tender process?

IS Bulk Liquid Carriers or any subsidiary/associated company the biggest supplier of milk to Saputo from the Macalister Irrigation District?

AT what date was Saputo first notified of any concerns regarding the conduct of Bulk Liquid Carriers?

DID Saputo check if Bulk Liquid Carriers was licensed to carry foodstuffs before granting them the cartage contract?

Saputo declined to answer any of these questions, only to say that it took “all food safety and quality allegations extremely seriously”.

“We are investigating allegations made against a third-party contractor and our objective is to bring clarity to the situation as soon as possible,” Saputo communications manager Debbie Jones said.

“We are also working with the industry regulator, Dairy Food Safety Victoria, as they conduct a parallel investigation. In the event there is any legitimacy to the allegations, we will take the necessary steps to address such matters as needed.”

Bulk Liquid Carriers did not respond to calls when contacted by The Weekly Times.

Dairy Food Safety Victoria compliance general manager Andrew Wilson also declined to comment on the matter.

United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Paul Mumford said consumer confidence in Australian produce was paramount.

“It’s extremely important that Dairy Food Safety Victoria goes through the due diligence here,” he said.

“Farmers want their product to be transported safely and customers want to be confident that the product they purchase is safe to consume.

“Australia has some of the highest food safety standards in the world and independent oversight maintains these standards.”

Gippsland dairy farmers expressed surprise when Bulk Liquid Carriers secured the transport contract. Three years ago, the Environment Protection Authority fined a Gippsland dairy farm business managed by Lachlan Wigg and Patrick Gray nearly $8000 for discharging between 10,000 and 50,000 litres of effluent into a stormwater drain.  

Bulk Liquid Carriers is 50 per cent owned by a company called LWPG Proprietary Limited — owned by Mr Gray and Mr Wigg, with Mr Wigg listed as its sole director.

”That case was well-known at the time, so you could say there was some surprise that Saputo got involved with that business (Bulk Liquid Carriers),” the farmer told The Weekly Times. “They’re not insignificant players in dairy- it’s a substantial farming operation they’ve got.”