May 2, 2009

 

China consumers have mixed feelings on pork

As the H1N1 flu outbreak rages on worldwide, consumers in China are having mixed feelings whether to eat their favourite meat, pork, or not.

 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised its level of pandemic alert from phase four to five, indicating that a pandemic is "imminent". The virus is suspected of killing more than 150 people in Mexico.

 

The disease has conflicting reports whether the name 'swine flu' is accurate or not or if it came from pigs, and the OIE and FAO and Chinese health officials said there is no proof the virus is found in pigs or can be contracted through the consumption of pork and pork products. Still, the disease has affected China's pork market.

 

In central Henan Province, one of the country's leading pig exporters, vendors have felt the impact of the virus. A vendor in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, said business has slumped and he now sells a daily average of 100 kg pork compared to the pre-flu daily average of 130 kg.

 

In Bayiqiao market of Nanchang, capital of the eastern Jiangxi Province, pork prices have also dropped by about 10 percent but still failed to lure consumers who are now going for fish and chicken, a vendor there said.

 

The flu also threatens the economy of the southwestern Sichuan Province, which is recovering from the devastating earthquake in May last year.

 

Pork prices have dropped amid the global financial crisis and pig farmers in Sichuan cannot afford another hit, said Lan Jinming, vice-head of the Sichuan Provincial Animal Husbandry and Food Administration.

 

Lan said Sichuan's pig industry may suffer further if the flu situation worsens.

 

But not all consumers refuse to go near pork. At the Yongchang market in Changchun, capital of northeastern Jilin Province, residents thronged the pork stands on Thursday (Apr 30), and vendors attributed the better-than-usual sales to the coming May Day holidays.

 

Nationwide, the H1N1 flu outbreak has not affected pork markets significantly, according to a Xinhua-operated monitoring system on China's farm and sideline products prices.

 

Supply and sales of pork were normal, and pork prices showed little fluctuations despite a slight fall on Thursday. Sales volume in some provinces dropped to different extents, but the upcoming May Day holiday have spurred pork sales, the system said.