Maximillian Christian Zucker appeared at the Blenheim District Court on Monday. (File photo)

A German man has been accused of trying to cause major commercial losses in New Zealand by claiming milk powder had been contaminated.

Maximillian Christian Zucker​, 20, allegedly "communicated information he believed to be false" about contaminated milk powder at Pacific Lab Holdings, in Marlborough, on Friday.

Police claim Zucker intended to "cause a significant disruption to commercial activity in New Zealand", likely to cause major economic loss to the company director.

Zucker worked for Pacific Lab Holdings at the end of the production line, where he stacked packages onto pallets before distribution, police said.

Zucker appeared at the Blenheim District Court on Monday.

It was not revealed in court how Zucker allegedly made his claim, or what the alleged contamination was.

​Duty solicitor John Holdaway said Zucker was in the country on a visa, staying in Marlborough, and was due to leave in five weeks.

He asked for the case to be remanded so Zucker could apply for legal aid.

Judge Richard Russell remanded him on bail to November 15.

His bail conditions required him to surrender his passport to police.

He was also banned from going to Pacific Lab Holdings and from leaving Marlborough.

It was not the first time milk powder was at the centre of criminal charges in New Zealand.

Auckland man Jeremy Hamish Kerr, 60, sent blackmail letters to Fonterra and Federated Farmers in 2014, threatening to poison milk powder with 1080 if use of the pest control poison was not stopped.

The letters were accompanied by a package of milk powder contaminated with 1080.

The Government took four months to reveal the threat to the public, concerned about the impact it could have on consumer confidence and the economy.

Economists said at the time the New Zealand dollar had a kneejerk reaction to the news, initially dropping about half a cent on the US dollar.

Police initially suspected anti-1080 protesters, but DNA testing of the letters pointed them to Kerr, who had developed a poison called Feratox to rival 1080.

Kerr was sentenced to eight and half years' jail on two counts of blackmail in 2016.