The Ministry of Primary Industries is investigating a report that mouldy butter has been sold at an Auckland supermarket. 

A shopper bought a 500g block of Pams butter from New World Whangaparāoa last week. The packaging showed it was packed on July 1 and was “best before” January 1 next year. 

“I opened it and there was mould all over it,” the shopper told the Herald. 

She bought the butter late last week and complained in the hope that “other people or kids don’t get sick”. 

Vincent Arbuckle, the deputy director-general of New Zealand Food Safety, an authority within the Ministry of Primary Industries, confirmed they had received a complaint. 

“We are looking into the complaint to establish the facts,” Arbuckle said. 

A customer complains she bought mouldy butter from New World Whangaparāoa in Auckland. Photo / Supplied 

The Ministry of Primary Industries is looking into the complaint. Photo / Supplied 

“As always, if there is a food safety risk to support a recall, this would be undertaken to protect consumers. 

“Our advice to people who see unintended mould in any product, such as this, is to avoid eating it and contact the manufacturer or retailer.” 

A spokesman for Foodstuffs, which owns Pams, admitted the problem. 

“Recently, we’ve identified some quality issues with a few batches of Pams butter.” 

Foodstuffs and Pams will be withdrawing the affected batches while it looks into the matter because “we only want to provide the highest quality butter”. 

“We want to reassure customers it’s a quality issue and not a food safety issue.” 

Foodstuffs and Pams also addressed ongoing rumours about a supposed change of recipe for their butter. 

“There has been no change to the ingredients in Pams butter. It continues to be made in New Zealand using just cream and salt, with no added water.” 

And the company also said it was natural for variability between butter batches. 

“While we aim for consistency, being a natural product there is occasionally variability between batches. If anyone isn’t entirely happy with their butter, they can bring it back to the shop and we’ll swap it for another block.” 

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.