In a situation following closely to recent developments in Australia concerning foreign direct investment in agriculture, a coalition of 17 farm and food safety groups have sent letters of opposition to the sale of Smithfield Foods to the Chinese conglomerate Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. in what would be the largest such takeover of a U.S. business. The groups claim that the sale would not only weaken the economies in rural America but would threaten domestic food safety if the Shuanghui group pursued domestic sale of Asian pork – in essence reversing the global flow of pork, following a number of food related scares in China including reports of adulterated and mislabeled meats, and a Shuanghui subsidiary recently being accused of treating hogs with an illegal veterinary drug that is hazardous to humans. Processed pork products including bacon, ham and sausage are exempt from mandatory country-of-origin labeling requirements in the U.S. at this time.
To receive relevant news stories with summaries provided by GAI Research & Insight, subscribe to Global AgDevelopments, our free bi-weekly enhanced eNews service.