New Zealand's Fonterra says China lifts ban on baby formula ingredients

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's Fonterra Co-Operative Group, the world's biggest dairy exporter, said the Chinese government has lifted a ban on the last two products that were embroiled in last year's contaminated infant formula scare.

It said the ban on New Zealand producers exporting whey powder and base powder containing whey for infant formula to China has ended.

The ban was imposed in August last year in the wake of the scare that whey powder had been contaminated with a bacteria that could cause botulism.

The scare, which prompted precautionary product recalls and import bans in various markets, turned out to be a false alarm.

Fonterra said the two products accounted for about 3 percent of its total exports to China, and it would be able to resume selling the ingredients to Chinese based infant formula manufacturers.

Dairy exports are New Zealand's biggest export earner and China is the country's biggest export customer.