When it comes to bacon, China’s super companies mean business.
Wednesday morning, Shuanghui International, the majority shareholder of China’s largest Chinese meat processing enterprise, solidified a multi-billion merger with Smithfield Food Inc., America’s largest pork producer.
The globalized merger adds $7.1 billion to China’s meat industry and includes the assumption of Smithfield’s net debt.
“Shuanghui is a leading pork producer in China and a pioneer in the Chinese meat processing industry with over 30 years of history,” Shuanghui Chairman Wan Long said in a press release. “Smithfield is a leader in our industry and together we will be able to meet the growing demand in China for pork by importing high-quality meat products from the United States, while continuing to serve markets in the United States and around the world.”
Pork consists of more than half of the meat consumed in China and in 2010, China ranked No.1 in pork production and consumption internationally. The country even has a “National Pork Reserve” they can call on to decrease the inflation of meat prices during times of economic crisis.
As seriously as China takes its pork economics, maybe the country should more seriously consider its meat production standards: China’s track record when it comes to meat production and treatment do not match up to the ethical standards of the United States.
Over 1 million Chinese piglets suffered fatalities from the deadly Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus in 2010, causing concerns among the Chinese public about pork consumption and production.
Earlier in May, two Chinese individuals were arrested and detained for allegedly selling diseased pig carcasses. The individuals were hired by a local county government to dispose of pigs killed by infectious pigs, but turned their government duties into a morbid black-market butcher shop.
In March, over 900 dead pigs were found floating down the Songjiang River near Shanghai. Since the discovery of hundreds of floating pig carcasses, Chinese pork prices have fallen over 16.2 percent.
Over the past decade, the U.S. has made efforts to increase their food security, especially from foreign imports. Four cases of mad cow disease have been found in American livestock since 2003 — all deriving from foreign imports and contaminants.
While the Shanghai International promises to provide high-quality and safe products to consumers, China’s history of unsafe meat production gives Americans reason to wonder how safe their Sunday pot roast really is.
The Food and Drug Administration regulates all foreign and domestic meat production.