Kiwifruit producer and exporter Zespri announced over a million trays will be destroyed after mice were found on the company’s first European season shipment, The New Zealand Herald reported.

The rodents were found among 1.2 million trays of SunGold kiwis upon arrival in Zeebrugge, Belgium in late April. Since then, the firm has continued to examine the shipment to try and salvage as much fruit as possible.

Chief Operating Officer Jason Te Brake said Zespri has inspected 2,600 pallets, approximately 54% of the total.

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“It’s become clear that we can’t fully mitigate the potential food safety and reputational risk to the brand with enough certainty to release any fruit,” Te Brake said. 

The compromised fruit will be turned into biofuel, the executive said, as the company continues to engage with insurers and shipping partners.

"Reworking this fruit would be a substantial and complex operational undertaking requiring considerable resources and time. Even then, we could not be sufficiently confident we could remove the risk associated with the presence of rodents,” Te Brake added regarding the decision to destroy the fruit.

Total value of the fruit and costs associated with reprocessing and disposal is estimated to be around $34 million.