US Rasied Chicken Processed in China Raises Risk To US Users

[William Kanitz]

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UNITED STATES/CHINA: USDA will approve further-processing plants in China for export of U.S.-raised chicken back to the United States.
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USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced a final rule making the People's Republic of China eligible to export processed poultry products from approved sources to the United States.

This final rule will allow exports of processed poultry products from China, derived from poultry raised in the United States and slaughtered in FSIS-inspected establishments or raised and slaughtered in other countries, eligible to export poultry to the United States, FSIS relayed in a release.

"This rule does not make China eligible to export processed poultry products to the U.S. that are derived from birds of Chinese origin slaughtered in China's domestic establishments," the news release stated. The rule becomes effective on May 24, 2006.

Certified establishments in China must have procedures in place to ensure that products produced for domestic use are processed at separate times from those produced for export to the United States. FSIS, through on-site reviews, will verify that establishments certified by the government of China are meeting all U.S. requirements.

In addition to relying on its initial determination of a country's eligibility and performing ongoing reviews to ensure that products shipped to the U.S. are safe, wholesome and properly labeled and packaged, all processed poultry products exported to the U.S. from China will be subject to FSIS reinspection procedures at ports of entry. These procedures include examinations for product defects; laboratory analyses that will detect any chemical residues or microbiological contamination; proper certification; transportation damage; labeling; general condition; and accurate count.

"The rule proposing to allow the export of processed poultry products from China was published in November 2005 following 18 months of review of documentation and on-site audits of China's poultry processing inspection system," the news release continued.

FSIS relayed that it determined China's laws, regulations, and other materials showed that its poultry-processing system includes requirements equivalent to all provisions in the Poultry Products Inspection Act and its implementing regulations.

 

[Mike]

Burns my buns. A fairly large chicken processor just up the road from me is going out of business in a few months.

Does this mean we are gonna ship chickens over there and they're gonna ship them back processed cheaper than we can do it over here?

 

[Econ101]

Just a way for global oligarchs to control commerce. Use international commerce to gain competitive advantage while reducing producers/manufactoring to lower and lower standards. President Hu visited Gates in the other Washington before visiting D.C. It should tell you something. The Walmartization of the world.

 

[PORKER]

Does this mean we are gonna ship chickens over there and they're gonna ship them back processed cheaper than we can do it over here?

I have a basic problem with Avain Flu from a sick worker !

Not really Mike.But you know that WalMart needs to keep those Shipping Containers FULL both ways.They would be empty going one way.Why can't we fill them with beef and lamb going one way?

 

[Anonymous]

Playing chicken with imports

In a month (starting May 24) processed poultry from China can be imported to the US despite widespread outbreaks of avian influenza there. This isn't Chinese poultry, according to authorities. It is US poultry (or poultry from countries the US accepts for import), sent to China for processing. Live poultry from China cannot be imported. The request to allow this came from China. One wonders what the quid pro quo was. According to the US government, here's what it wasn't:

Chinese President Hu Jintao visited President George W. Bush on Thursday at the White House. In advance of his visit, China made several commitments, including an agreement to drop a mad cow disease-related ban on imports of U.S. beef. Raymond said the deal is unrelated to poultry imports and has been in the works since 2004. (Canadian Press)
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says not to fear. The meat will be "fully cooked and perfectly safe."

"It will have been processed," said Richard Raymond, the department's undersecretary for food safety.
"Cooking will kill the virus, if there is any virus, in poultry meat."
That's a relief. I'm sure the processing facilities in China are regulated with the utmost strictness. Just like in the US. So we don't have to worry about cross contamination of the same machinery used for batches of Chinese poultry. They'll clean it throughly for the small batches of US chicken. Won't they?

Still, I wonder. In 2005 the journal Virology reported on H5N1 contaminated processed duck meat imported from China to Japan:

This duck meat isolate was highly pathogenic to chickens upon intravenous or intranasal inoculation, replicated well in the lungs of mice and spread to the brain, but was not as pathogenic in mice as H5N1 human isolates (with a dose lethal to 50% of mice (MLD50)=5x10(6) 50% egg infectious doses [EID50]). However, viruses isolated from the brain of mice previously infected with the virus were substantially more pathogenic (MLD50=approximately 10(2) EID50) and possessed some amino acid substitutions relative to the original virus. These results show that poultry products contaminated with influenza viruses of high pathogenic potential to mammals are a threat to public health even in countries where the virus is not enzootic and represent a possible source of influenza outbreaks in poultry. (Mase et al., Virology. 2005 Aug 15;339(1):101-9)
But don't worry. USDA and the Bush administration have this all figured out so that there's a net benefit.

For someone.

 

[Econ101]

Playing chicken with imports

In a month (starting May 24) processed poultry from China can be imported to the US despite widespread outbreaks of avian influenza there. This isn't Chinese poultry, according to authorities. It is US poultry (or poultry from countries the US accepts for import), sent to China for processing. Live poultry from China cannot be imported. The request to allow this came from China. One wonders what the quid pro quo was. According to the US government, here's what it wasn't:

Chinese President Hu Jintao visited President George W. Bush on Thursday at the White House. In advance of his visit, China made several commitments, including an agreement to drop a mad cow disease-related ban on imports of U.S. beef. Raymond said the deal is unrelated to poultry imports and has been in the works since 2004. (Canadian Press)
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says not to fear. The meat will be "fully cooked and perfectly safe."

"It will have been processed," said Richard Raymond, the department's undersecretary for food safety.
"Cooking will kill the virus, if there is any virus, in poultry meat."
That's a relief. I'm sure the processing facilities in China are regulated with the utmost strictness. Just like in the US. So we don't have to worry about cross contamination of the same machinery used for batches of Chinese poultry. They'll clean it throughly for the small batches of US chicken. Won't they?

Still, I wonder. In 2005 the journal Virology reported on H5N1 contaminated processed duck meat imported from China to Japan:

This duck meat isolate was highly pathogenic to chickens upon intravenous or intranasal inoculation, replicated well in the lungs of mice and spread to the brain, but was not as pathogenic in mice as H5N1 human isolates (with a dose lethal to 50% of mice (MLD50)=5x10(6) 50% egg infectious doses [EID50]). However, viruses isolated from the brain of mice previously infected with the virus were substantially more pathogenic (MLD50=approximately 10(2) EID50) and possessed some amino acid substitutions relative to the original virus. These results show that poultry products contaminated with influenza viruses of high pathogenic potential to mammals are a threat to public health even in countries where the virus is not enzootic and represent a possible source of influenza outbreaks in poultry. (Mase et al., Virology. 2005 Aug 15;339(1):101-9)
But don't worry. USDA and the Bush administration have this all figured out so that there's a net benefit.

For someone.

Oldtimer, this is classic:

"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.--Ronald Reagan"

That is one of the reasons he was a great president.

 

[Mike]

Wonder if these folks have anything to do with the China Chicken trade:


Tyson Fresh Meats Locations
Beef Plants
Amarillo, Texas
Boise, Idaho
Dakota City, Nebraska
Denison, Iowa
Emporia, Kansas
Finney County, Kansas
Joslin, Illinois
Lexington, Nebraska
Norfolk, Nebraska
Pasco, Washington
West Point, Nebraska

Pork Plants
Logansport, Indiana
Louisa County, Iowa
Madison, Nebraska
Perry, Iowa
Storm Lake, Iowa
Waterloo, Iowa

Case-Ready Operations
Amarillo, Texas
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Goodlettsville Tennessee
Norfolk, Nebraska

Forward Warehouses
Amarillo, Texas
Montgomery City, Missouri
Norfolk, Nebraska
Ottawa, Illinois
Service Centers
Atlanta, Georgia
Brooks, Alberta
Chicago, Illinois
Dakota City, Nebraska
Gloucester, Ontario
Los Angeles, California
Lyndhurst, New Jersey

Hide Plants
Amarillo, Texas,
Boise, Idaho
Brooks, Alberta, Canada
Dakota City, Nebraska
Emporia, Kansas
Finney County, Kansas
Joslin, Illinois
Lexington, Nebraska
Pasco, Washington

Tanneries
Amarillo, Texas
Dakota City, Nebraska
Finney County, Kansas
Joslin, Illinois

Pig Skinning
Perry, Iowa


International Plant Sites
Brooks, Alberta, Canada - Beef
East Jiao, Zhou City, China - Chicken
Jinshan, China - Chicken
Tushinsky, Russia - Chicken

Tyson International Sales
Canada
China
England
Hawaii
Hong Kong
Japan
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Russia
Taiwan
South Korea
Singapore
United Arab Emirates

Cold Storage Warehouses
Amarillo, Texas
Emporia, Kansas
Finney County, Kansas
Joslin, Illinois
Lexington, Nebraska
Louisa County, Iowa
Norfolk, Nebraska
Perry, Iowa
Sioux City, Iowa
Storm Lake, Iowa
Waterloo, Iowa

[/b]

 

[PORKER]

Plain as the nose on your face,****East Jiao, Zhou City, China - Chicken
Jinshan, China - Chicken

 

[Anonymous]

Ban on Chinese Chicken Advances

By LIBBY QUAID
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 3, 2006; 2:17 PM

WASHINGTON -- Spurred by concerns about bird flu, lawmakers voted Wednesday to block chicken processed in China from entering the United States.

The prohibition is part of a $94 billion spending bill for food and agriculture programs that cleared a House subcommittee and now goes to the full Appropriations Committee.


The Bush administration had said last month that it would allow poultry processed in China, so long as it comes from birds raised and slaughtered in the United States. Agriculture Department officials said the meat would be fully cooked and perfectly safe.

But Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said there's no way to guarantee the safety of chicken cooked and packaged in China, where thousands of birds and several people have died from bird flu.

DeLauro, the agriculture spending subcommittee's senior Democrat, mentioned a recent recall in Tennesee of chicken breast fillets, sold as fully cooked, that may have been undercooked.

"If undercooking can occur at a U.S. plant, where there are daily inspections, think of how easy it will be for undercooking or other problems to occur in a Chinese plant, which is inspected by U.S. inspectors only once per year," DeLauro said.

"The public health risk increases exponentially when a product from China is undercooked, because the threat of avian flu is so high in that country," she said.

The panel approved DeLauro's amendment blocking processed chicken from China on a voice vote.

The spending bill would provide $80 million to protect against bird flu, about $33 million less than what President Bush requested.

___

 

[Econ101]

This whole thing was a gimmick cooked up by the "globalization" crowd, I would imagine.

What links they will go to!!!!

If Tyson can not produce it here in the U.S. as good of quality as the Chinese could, why in the heck are they in business?

This is just about as bad as the $100 rebate for the gas crisis. Such idoits have had their time to perform. No one believes them anymore.

Sometimes a dose of reality could solve many cases of potomic fever---it only works if they want to be cured.

 

[Sandhusker]

Gentlemen, notice what is happening in the chicken markets? This could be happening to us and will if the present course continues. This is why we need COOL and a checkoff that promotes only US product.


Are these lawmakers going to be labeled protectionists, too?

 

[cedardell]

My comment is that chicken processed in the US is all done mechanicly. Once the bird slides down the funnel it is never touched by human hands. So if our processing procedure is so efficient why do we need to send chicken to china for processing? I think it is a gimmik to get cheaper birds from Asian countries into the US to screw US chicken producers. If I had a contract with a big processor that did that I'd be hoppin mad. This is the way of corporate agriculture and as an independent I am hoppin mad. I don't know why I pay taxes to a govt that kicks us in the ass. Just what we need. A bigger trade deficit with China.

 

[PORKER]

Just think of the fuel costs of moving a product.Then every time you move or handle a product you have the problem of contamation.Less moves less problems.

Your right Cedardell,So if our processing procedure is so efficient why do we need to send chicken to china for processing?***** WE DON"T

I think it is a gimmik to get cheaper birds from Asian countries into the US to screw US chicken producers.*****Your Right AGAIN

 

[RobertMac]

What's the problem...NORTH AMERICA will eventually find Avian flu!?!?!?

The poultry will come with 'proper documentation' of China's 'equivalent' inspection.!!!!!!!!!.

FSIS WILL inspect (probably) less than 1% at the port to verify 'equivalency' !!!!!!!!!!!

It's going to help the NORTH AMERICAN consumer by lowering the cost of poultry!!!!!!!!!!!

We are dependent on foreign oil...why not foreign food??????????



You got it, cedardell.

 

[Sandhusker]

Add one more item under "USDA in the pocket of big business" list.

 

[Econ101]

Add one more item under "USDA in the pocket of big business" list.

Its "planned" incompetence. Lou Dobbs was right.

 

[PORKER]

It's going to help the NORTH AMERICAN consumer by lowering the cost of poultry!!!!!!!!!!! ****************************************************
Good Lord,The Poultry Producers are giving their product AwAY

 

[Econ101]

It's going to help the NORTH AMERICAN consumer by lowering the cost of poultry!!!!!!!!!!! ****************************************************
Good Lord,The Poultry Producers are giving their product AwAY

Its not the producers---its the integrators. The producers don't have any control of it at all and the integrators have all the control. It isn't like beef that has a long biological cycle. The poultry integrators could stop their oversupply situation in a matter of months. It is part of the concentration game.