Dairy giant Fonterra is investigating how an infamous cartoon depicting Mohammed as a terrorist allegedly wound up in training material used at one of its plants. The caricature of Mohammed - which showed the prophet wearing a bomb in his turban with a lit fuse - was drawn by cartoonist Kurt Westergaard and caused considerable controversy when it was first published by a Danish newspaper in September 2005. The image was used in a pest and pathogens training document handed out in 2018 at Fonterra's Kapuni site in South Taranaki on a page addressing the foodborne bacteria listeria, a person who went through the training said. The person, who wished to remain anonymous, provided a copy of the document to Stuff and said such racism needed to be called out in light of the Christchurch mosque shootings. However, Kapuni operations manager Emma Bennett said the cartoon did not represent Fonterra or its values and was not part of official training material. READ MORE * Small town New Zealand not exempt from white supremacists * High School moves to end casual racism by cleaning up banter * Combating casual racism with comedy "A full investigation into the existence and sharing of the material is now underway," Bennett said. "So far, we understand it was produced many years ago but has not been in use. It's certainly not part of any official training on site." "This is not official Fonterra training material and we absolutely do not condone or support this type of content in any way shape or form. It is not in alignment with our co-operative values." Bennett didn't respond to questions about who had produced the document, why it was produced or what the investigation would cover. "The imagery you have shown us is not part of any official training material. It is not endorsed by Fonterra for any purposes and never would be," a spokesperson said. The person said they found the material offensive. "I thought wow they must not hire very many Muslims. "That's as far as it went at the time. I didn't feel like I could talk to people around me about it either." The cartoon ran alongside sentences about listeria that read: "He is not here for anything other than to cause trouble. "Listeria is a vandal and will spend his time in YOU causing havoc. This little bugger doesn't care what he wrecks; head, muscles, or bowel." While the image may have been considered humorous years ago, after the Christchurch terrors attacks no form of racism was funny, they said. "I think I'm a bit more aware lately and not willing to put up with this stuff in any shape or form." The Fonterra Kapuni plant is one of the only places in the world that has the expertise to produce super high quality pharmaceutical grade lactose. Graphic depictions of the prophet are considered taboo by Muslims and a death threat has been placed on Westergaard who survived an attack on his life in 2010. He still lives under 24/7 police protection.
South Taranaki dairy giant Fonterra has launched an investigation after a controversial caricature by cartoonist Mohammed depicting the prophet Mohammed was allegedly found among training material. An anonymous individual, training at South Taranaki 's Kapuni site in Fonterra , claimed the cartoon featured in a “pest and pathogens” document handed out last year . Mohammed , Kapuni operations manager, said the company "absolutely does not condone or support this type of content in any way, shape or form".