Chicken from China

[tube fanatic]

I just read a tiny piece about this in the latest AARP bulletin and thought that it couldn't possibly be true. Unfortunately, it is! Another reason to be "optimistic."

http://www.infowars.com/now-that-obama-is-allowing-chicken-from-china-what-will-that-do-to-the-chicken-industry/

[ZAKO]

My family raised and processed our own chickens... That way we new how healthy our birds were...People don't want to take that time and effort anymore, Have you ever shot a deer and processed the meat ??, You let the Govt. take over your lives and suffer the consequences..

[muel]

[Rusty Melton]

That's just great. Not sure if it's true or not, but I saw the other day that China had banned shellfish from the US west coast. Their food must be safer than ours??

[ZAKO]

In Hong Kong there is a good restraint that serves snake....tasts like chicken

[Schu]

ever wonder how the machines knew what chicken tastes like... which is why maybe, everything tastes like chicken!

[mustang guy]

This article clearly blames the Obama administration. Once that guy makes his mind up, screw everyone else. I think this should be stopped. What sense other than lobbying pressure can anyone make of this?

I liked the Dr Oz article "Dr. Oz sounds alarm on dangers of processed chicken from China". It is short and to the point.

This will start happening early next summer unless somebody can get through BO's head to stop this. I bet the USDA won't be testing anything because they have too much to regulate, and not enough staff. Besides, who the heck would trust them. The government is obviously for sale to the highest bidder. The only people who need to watch out are the people who can't pay somebody off.

Edited December 15, 2013 by mustang guy

[Fjd]

While the issue is something to watch how it develops, I always enjoy reading the article "titles" as it seems like many of the article titles and articles themselves possibly contain a certain level of speculation, sensationalism and spin.

Here is the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) Audit Report

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/c3dab827-151d-4373-917f-139db6a2466d/China_2013_Poultry_Processing.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

FSIS Frequently Asked Questions - Equivalence of China’s Poultry Processing System

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/newsroom/news-releases-statements-transcripts/news-release-archives-by-year/archive/2013/faq-china-08302013

If you remember back from about 2003 through today, I believe that there has been at least ten years of posturing between the United States and China regarding meat exports in both directions. If anyone remembers, China, in addition to several other Asian nations, blocked United States beef imports during 2003 after a Washington state cow tested positive for “mad cow” disease.

I believe that the next issue was in 2004 when the avian flu was problematic in Asia. The United States then first blocked imports of Chinese poultry. During 2009 China brought a restraint-of-trade action against the United States in front of the World Trade Organization (WTO). I believe that in 2010 China won the restraint-of-trade action and about this same time China started to accuse the United States of dumping chicken parts at below-market prices and instituted a tariff on United States poultry of more than 100 percent.

I believe that the audit process used to “approve” the Chinese plants for processing and export began after the WTO decision. This audit approval process involves inspections, requests for corrective actions, follow-up inspections, and finally the approval on August 30, 2013 that has prompted the articles we are now reading.

From what I have read the audit currently allows China to sell back to the United States only poultry that was raised and slaughtered in the United States (and maybe Canada), as the audit documents indicate, a country “that FSIS determined to have a poultry slaughter inspection system equivalent to the United States system.”

Edited December 15, 2013 by Fjd

[Fjd]

From the USDA FAQ:

"As always, FSIS is fully committed to protecting the nation’s food supply and if China begins exporting processed chicken products to the United States, all food safety steps will be taken as if the products were processed in the United States."

And, remember to leave cookies and milk for Santa Claus!

Funny and agreed. Just because there is an audit, does not mean, or should not imply, something is safe with any level of certainty.

This Chinese Chicken situation has little to nothing to do with the White House or Congress. The USA is a member of the WTO, which is a supra-governmental body that makes and enforces its own rules on all trade between members. Decisions by the WTO (people you never elected and whom you don't know) are binding on all signatories.

This is actually more to the point that I wanted to draw out is that neither the White House or Congress has much influence whether the feather plucking jobs stay in the United States or go to China.

[Fjd]

I'm curious about how the impact of these latest exporting from China rules will impact Tyson. The Wall Street Journal article below states that "China's chicken market is central to Tyson's plan to increase its sales from international production by at least 12% annually over the next few years. Tyson, which generated $34 billion in global revenue for fiscal 2013, has processed chicken in China since 2001."

Inside China's Supersanitary Chicken Farms - Looking to Capitalize on Food-Safety Concerns, Tyson Shifts From Using Independent Breeders

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303559504579197662165181956

Edited December 15, 2013 by Fjd

[tigerwoodKhorns]

I'm curious about how the impact of these latest exporting from China rules will impact Tyson. The Wall Street Journal article below states that "China's chicken market is central to Tyson's plan to increase its sales from international production by at least 12% annually over the next few years. Tyson, which generated $34 billion in global revenue for fiscal 2013, has processed chicken in China since 2001."

Inside China's Supersanitary Chicken Farms - Looking to Capitalize on Food-Safety Concerns, Tyson Shifts From Using Independent Breeders

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303559504579197662165181956

I think you just hit the nail on the head as to who is behind this.

[tube fanatic]

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/09/how-chinese-processed-chicken-was-approved-for-export-to-usa/#.Uq4FxSd0m4I

Reading in the above article about the inspections at only 4 processing plants (which means that "all" are safe- right?) reminded me of an event at an electronics company for which I did some work years ago. The company had so many OSHA violations going on that they should have been shut down (a disgruntled employee filed a complaint.) Instead, OSHA notified the owner of the date on which an inspector would show up to check compliance. For the week prior, no work was done which could have caused a failed air quality check- the normally open 55 gallon drums of lacquer (for the xfmrs we made) were tightly closed, no painting was done (the paint room was so poorly ventilated that one had to wear a respirator to go in there), the unventilated wave solder pots were turned off, and all the doors were kept open during business hours to name only a few "corrective steps" taken. I won't get into the eye and ear safety issues (no safety goggles available, no ear protection for those using equipment which exceeded safe sound levels, etc. The owner put a few pairs of safety glasses and headphone type ear protectors at strategic locations for the audit.) As soon as the owner received the passing report from the inspector, it was back to business as usual. I'd bet that the food processing plants which were inspected did the same thing. It's all about $$$, and those who should be protecting us could care less as long as their bank accounts are properly filled.

[T2K]

I worked in a noisy environment for many years. Years ago if you wore hearing protection you were threatened and scolded for using it because of 'communication issues'. We also had to comply with a policy that required periodic hearing exams. So the setup is that we could not use hearing protection yet we were required to have our hearing monitored. Brilliant. We sued the idiots and collected for hearing loss and thereafter were scolded and threatened if caught not using company provided hearing protection.

Keith

[Skelt]

The asian bird flu will destroy the poultry market is the USA if it ever gets over here. My kids like those chicken nuggets but i dont want them. I have been butchering tame rabbits for my chicken needs. They are much cleaner to process than chickens.

[ZAKO]

I wondered what happened to BUGS BUNNY..

[Skelt]

I like Easter better now.

[Fjd]

It's all about $$$, and those who should be protecting us could care less as long as their bank accounts are properly filled.

I suspect that many people still take some level of pride in their daily job and not everyone is "on the take;" however, I believe that a much more larger part of the problem that will never stand a chance of being corrected (too expensive), is the lack of resources to actually have an inspection program that has a chance of working. In the government's own report, "in 2008, FDA inspected 153 foreign food facilities out of an estimated 189,000 such facilities registered with FDA....." That amounts to 0.08% of facilities actually inspected.

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-699T

Examples of outbreaks linked to imported foods;

Red and Black Pepper from Asia – Fifty-two people were hospitalized and nearly 300 more were sickened across 44 states after they ate salami coated with black and red pepper contaminated with Salmonella Montevideo. The pepper was imported from three Asian countries in 2009 and 2010.

(Source: Salmonella Montevideo Infections Associated with Salami Products Made with Contaminated Imported Black and Red Pepper— United States, July 2009–April 2010. www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5950a3.htm?s_cid=mm5950a3_w)

Serrano and Jalapeno Peppers from Mexico – Two people died, nearly 300 were hospitalized and almost 1,500 were sickened across 43 states after they ate Salmonella Saintpaul–contaminated peppers (and maybe tomatoes). The food was imported from Mexico in 2008.

(Source: Investigation of Outbreak of Infections Caused by Salmonella Saintpaul. www.cdc.gov/salmonella/saintpaul/jalapeno)

Cantaloupe from Honduras – Sixteen people were hospitalized and 51 were sickened across 16 states after they ate cantaloupe contaminated with Salmonella Litchfi eld. The melon was imported from Honduras in 2008.

(Source: Investigation of Outbreak of Infections Caused by Salmonella Litchfi eld. www.cdc.gov/salmonella/litchfield)

Pet Food from China – In 2007, a Chinese ingredient supplier to pet food companies in North America used a dangerous substance in its product to save money. That substance, melamine, is an animal feed filler that, when combined with another chemical, cyanuric acid, causes kidney failure. Upon issuing a recall, which encompassed 100 brands of pet food, the FDA received 18,000 phone calls from consumers reporting a pet’s illness.

(Source: Recent Food Safety Incidents in FDA Regulated Products. dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc-safetytimeline.cfm?doc_name=fs-111-2-58)

Industrial inspection such as OSHA, and USDA, are eyewash. The USDA long ago went to a voluntary system where each plant does its own inspections based on USDA rules. There are nowhere near enough USDA inspectors to regularly inspect all the processing plants, or meat, or in fact anything at all.

Look what is happening right here in the United States with a 'voluntary' process. "Each working day, more than 10,500 hogs are slaughtered here—that’s 1,300 hogs per hour."

"The idea for the program sounded promising: If plants hired their own quality-assurance officers to sort out diseased carcasses and parts before they reached government inspectors, then, proponents theorized, there would be fewer carcasses for the USDA to inspect and reject. This weed-out of diseased animals earlier in the process would reduce the chance of food contamination; it would also allow plants the flexibility to devise their own inspection processes, rather than adhering to rigid cookie-cutter requirements; and, best of all, these efficiencies would streamline production, reducing the cost of pork for consumers."

"The program cut the number of Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspectors on the processing line from seven to four and permitted participating companies to accelerate line speeds in five pork-processing plants...."

The result: "the USDA’s Office of the Inspector General has raised concerns that faster line speeds could compromise food safety. In May, the OIG released a report finding enforcement of protocols at the five pilot plants was so lax that between 2008 and 2011 three ranked among the top 10 violators of food safety requirements. That’s out of 616 pork-packing plants nationwide. As recently as last year, inspectors at the five test plants found hog carcasses bound for processing with lesions from tuberculosis, septic arthritis (with bloody fluid pouring from joints), and fecal smears. The OIG’s assessment warned that “recurring, severe violations may jeopardize public health.”

http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/171710-the-truth-about-pork-and-how-america-feeds-itself

The heads of all these government agencies like USDA and OSHA, have long ago been captured by industry. That means, industry leaders like ex-CEOs get appointed to head these agencies. After a few years, they move from the agency to the K-Street lobbying firms, and then back again eventually to industry. That's what is commonly known as the revolving door. There are zero citizen advocates or consumer advocates at the head of any of these agencies any more. Now, if that's what it is like in the USA, try to imagine the USDA reach in China. It's a silly joke.

I'm sure you are aware, but for those that are not, there is a defined term for this phenomena called "regulatory capture." Regulatory capture is a theory associated with George Stigler, a Nobel laureate economist. It is the process by which regulatory agencies eventually come to be dominated by the very industries they were charged with regulating. Regulatory capture happens when a regulatory agency, formed to act in the public's interest, eventually acts in ways that benefit the industry it is supposed to be regulating, rather than the public. The fox guarding the hen house or the gamekeeper turning poacher.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

[RT FAN]

Not sure if this link will work, but it is a quick series of photos of air pollution in China, courtesy of The Chive. ( May be blocked @ work.)Doubtful you would want to eat any food coming from there. http://thechive.com/2013/12/17/ok-its-fair-to-say-the-air-pollution-level-in-china-has-gotten-out-of-hand-13-photos/

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Nice photos. Remember the Chinese tainted pet food from about 2007? Were kept hearing "all of the bad stuff is gone, really this is the last death" over and over. I started cooking potatoes, carrots and meat for the dogs for a long while, no matter what the "news" said. They actually all looked really good, lost weight and had shiny coats. The vet said they looked great.

Nothing good can come from this food processing outsourcing. It is bad enough what is done here where we have supposed oversight.

[oldtimer]

Attention! Attention! Does anyone remember what book that came from? Anyway, pay attention to your food. Mercury in certain fish. High fructose corn syrup? Not only is it bad enough on its own, it contains more mercury than you might think. Don't eat farmed fish, and don't eat over fished wild fish. Quit pouring chemicals on your lawns. It goes straight into the water system. For what? Golf course lawns? It's time to change aesthetics about what we think the world should look like, and keep it healthy for us. Meanwhile, enjoy your slurry fast food products, you know you do.