Dear Ministry for Primary Industries,

According to recent reporting, the so-called 'School Lunch Collective' that David Seymour has contracted to supply students in a deprived socio-economic condition with 'meals' filled with flies and other vermin, is now importing those 'meals' from Australia. While the insects supplied to students by Seymour's collaborators have so far been native, or invasive species already common in NZ, there are many species of pests common in Australia like the Queensland fruit fly and the various species of Carpophilus beetle that could potentially cause severe damage to our ecosystem and agricultural industry if introduced here.

As such, what precautions are being taken by MPI to ensure that the insects in the 'meals' imported by Seymour's contractors at the 'School Lunch Collective'/Compass from Australia are not from invasive species that have not yet been introduced to New Zealand, and that where they are they are at least dead? Specifically, what requirements should be applied about inspection of 'meals' to assess which pests are present, and their refrigeration, and are they being enforced by MPI personnel, or is this being left up to Compass and their subcontractors, who have a documented record of not complying with law and contract conditions?

Cheers,
Ali Ahmed

Hi Rebekah Speake,

Your response was due on, or before, the 11th of this month.

Under the Official Information Act, you may not further extend the response period, as the original response period has expired.

Where is your response? Is it in your drafts folder?

Regards,
Ali Ahmed

Thanks Ashley,

Unfortunately, your response was unclear. It specifically does not address any precautions and instead states "the complainant and the school have not provided any further details to New Zealand Food Safety, the business unit within MPI responsible for food complaints, on this matter. MPI have no evidence these products contain any introduced
pests or diseases."

This suggests that MPI is taking absolutely no action to rectify the well-known safety problems with Seymour's pest-infested lunches. Is that correct?

Yours sincerely,
Ali Ahmed