July 16, 2007

 

China bans food products from Tyson, other US meat processors

 

 

China has suspended imports from Tyson Foods Inc. and several other US meat plants- the latest indication the government may be retaliating as its products are turned back from overseas because of safety concerns.

 

Frozen poultry products from Tyson, the world's largest meat processor, were found to be contaminated with salmonella, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said on its Web site late Friday (July 13).

 

Other imports barred by China include frozen chicken feet from Sanderson Farms, Inc. (SAFM), tainted with residue of an anti-parasite drug, as well as frozen pork ribs from Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. that contained a leanness-enhancing feed additive, the AQSIQ said.

 

A Cargill spokesman denied the agency's claims. Tyson and Sanderson Farms officials were not immediately available for comment.

 

China's food and drug safety has come under scrutiny in recent months following North American dog and cat deaths blamed on tainted Chinese pet food ingredients.

 

Worries at home and around the world have heightened as a growing number of Chinese products have been found tainted with dangerous levels of toxins and chemicals.

 

Beijing has taken steps in recent days to improve product safety. It executed the former head of its drug regulation agency for taking bribes, and banned toothpaste makers from using a chemical found in antifreeze.

 

China's government has thoroughly investigated each case of substandard products, according Li Yuanping, director of the AQSIQ's import and export bureau.

 

"All of them are exceptional cases," he said in the report, adding more than 99 percent of China's exports meet standards.

 

"There is no such thing as zero risk. In term of food safety, it's impossible for any country to make 100 percent of their foodstuff safe," he was quoted as saying. "China-made products should not be labelled as substandard just because of a few bad producers."

 

However, as China works on food safety, authorities have prominently announced rejected imports - an apparent bid to turn the tables on critics and show it is not the only country with food export safety problems.

 

Mark Klein, a spokesman for Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc., disputed the Chinese inspectors' findings and said the company hoped to resolve the issue by working with US and Chinese officials.

 

"We're proud of our products and our processes, and we'll be delighted to talk about them with all concerned," he said.

 

Cargill is the parent company of Wichita, Kansas-based Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., which as of 2005 was the ninth leading pork producer in the US, according to the National Pork Producers Council.

 

Cargill had 45 days to correct the problem, the AQSIQ said, as did Kansas City, Missouri-based Van Luin Foods USA, Inc., whose imports of frozen pig ears were also found to contain the leanness-enhancing feed additive ractopamine.

 

The other companies' imports were suspended, although the AQSIQ did not say for how long.

 

It was unclear whether the latest import bans covered only the products in question, or all of the companies' imports.

 

Also suspended from import were products from two Atlanta-based companies: frozen chicken feet tainted with salmonella from Intervision Foods, and frozen pork tainted with ractopamine from AJC International, Inc.