Dive Brief:
- China has banned imports of pork from six plants and six cold storage facilities in the United States, citing the use of ractopamine, a chemical feed additive banned in China, Russia, and the European Union.
- The effected facilities include half of Tyson's pork operations, as well as facilities operated by Hormel Foods Corp., Triumph Foods, and Quality Pork Processors.
- The ban comes just days after Russia banned all food imports from the United States.
Dive Insight:
Tyson responded to China's actions by saying it will find someone else to buy its pork. But given that China is the third-largest export market for U.S. pork, that won't be easily done.
Defenders of ractopamine will no doubt argue that China's move is based on economics, not safety concerns. And a desire by China to protect prices amid soaring pork production is almost certainly a factor in the ban. But American pork producers (as well as poultry producers) have been down this road before. A good portion of the world doesn't much care for ractopamine. And as long as U.S. producers use the stuff, they will lose markets.
The question for producers is, simply, if the financial gains from ractopamine outweigh the loss of markets. The question for consumers here in the U.S. is more complex: Should this country follow the lead of Europe, Russia, and China and ban ractopamine?