Survey finds AH1N1 still causes fear in Chinese pork consumers

Some two-thirds of China's consumers stopped eating pork in the initial stages of the AH1N1 flu outbreak earlier this year, and more than one in five consumers still believe they can contract the flu from eating pork, according to a survey of 1,200 Chinese consumers commissioned last month by the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

Joel Haggard, senior vice president Asia-Pacific for USMEF, told more than 600 global pork industry executives Thursday (Sep 3) at a meeting in China that the world's largest pork producer and consumer may have been more affected by the AH1N1 flu outbreak than previously thought.

In the early stages of the outbreak, 64 percent of Chinese consumers refrained from pork consumption, said Haggard. He cited a research conducted on August 6-10 by Sinotrace Marketing Research Company of 200 consumers in each of six Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Shenyang.

Although several months have passed since the initial outbreak, 21.2 percent of respondents said they still believe that consuming pork can lead to catching the AH1N1 flu. Despite the Chinese government’s efforts in educating consumers regarding the safety of pork, 54.7 percent of those who are worried about the connection between pork and AH1N1 attribute their concern to the term "swine flu."