USDA Says Okay To Ship U.S. Chickens to China for Cheap Processing Then Back Home For You To Eat

image – EatLocalGrown (with permission)

Here’s a scary report that just came our way via our friends at Eat Local Grown. Food Safety News has revealed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will soon allow U.S. chickens to be sent to China for processing before being shipped back to the states for human consumption. ^[1]

Although it seems impossible that this would make economic sense – it is already being done with seafood – purely in order to save money. Did you even know this? According to the Seattle Times, domestically caught Pacific salmon and are currently being shipped to underpaid Chinese workers for filleting and de-shelling and then shipped back to the USA. ^[2]

This arrangement is particularly worrisome because this work is essentially being “sold to the lowest bidder” – putting consumers at potential risk. Chinese industry does not have the same regulations that there are elsewhere and their food sector has a notorious food safety record. There will be no on-site USDA inspectors in those plants. In addition, American consumers will never know whether their foods contain this chicken because Chinese-processed chicken does not have to bear “Country Of Origin Labeling”.

You should know the truth about what you are putting in your body – where it comes from, how it was processed, what it is made of. Note that this is more than just an issue of going vegan, because it’s not just food: It’s also vitamins, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices.

This all highlights the potential problems with a globalized, industrialized food supply that is largely unregulated. There is a huge issue here that goes even as far as food adulteration and even outright fraudulent food. There needs to be much more in the way of safety inspection and food testing. We need the best quality labs available to start testing food of all kinds, analyzing its ingredients and ascertaining its safety. If those in the industry know they cannot get away with poor standards or they will lose their license to operate (and more) – things will surely change. It’s just not right to force anyone to eat substandard food. There is absolutely no excuse for it.

Are you ready to start growing your own food and supporting local growers yet?

Scores of Americans are in an uproar since Food Safety News revealed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will soon allow U.S. chickens to be sent to China for processing before being shipped back to the states for human consumption.
This arrangement is especially disturbing given China’s subpar food safety record and the fact that there are no plans to station on-site USDA inspectors at Chinese plants.

Also, American consumers won’t know which brands of chicken are processed in China because there’s no requirement to label it as such.

It’s Already Done With Your Seafood
To ease concerns, lobbyists and chicken industry proponents argue no U.S. company will ever ship chicken to China for processing because it wouldn’t work economically.

“Economically, it doesn’t make much sense,” said Tom Super, spokesman for the National Chicken Council, in a recent interview with the Houston Chronicle. “Think about it: A Chinese company would have to purchase frozen chicken in the U.S., pay to ship it 7,000 miles, unload it, transport it to a processing plant, unpack it, cut it up, process/cook it, freeze it, repack it, transport it back to a port, then ship it another 7,000 miles. I don’t know how anyone could make a profit doing that.”

Yet, a similar process is already being used for U.S. seafood.

According to the Seattle Times, domestically caught Pacific salmon and Dungeness crab are being processed in China and shipped back to the U.S. because of significant cost savings.

“There are 36 pin bones in a salmon and the best way to remove them is by hand,” said Charles Bundrant, founder of Trident, which ships about 30 million pounds of its 1.2 billion-pound annual harvest to China for processing. “Something that would cost us $1 per pound labor here, they get it done for 20 cents in China.”

Low Pay, Poor Safety Record
Bureau of Labor Statistics data estimates that American poultry processors are paid roughly $11 per hour on average. In China, reports have circulated that the country’s chicken workers can earn significantly less—$1 to 2 per hour—which casts doubt on Super’s economic feasibility assessment.

China’s food safety system, which is said to be decades behind America’s, is highly questionable given some of the more recent food safety scandals that have surfaced in the country:

More than 300,000 Chinese children have suffered illness, and several have died, from melamine-tainted milk powder.
Dangerously high levels of mercury have been found in Chinese baby formula.
More than $1 million worth of rat and other small mammal meat has been sold to Chinese consumers as lamb.
Food Safety News aims to spread awareness of the pending USDA agreement and stop Chinese-processed chicken from ever reaching supermarkets or school lunchrooms.

Article with permission from Rick D

Further Reading:

‘Organic’ From China Exposed: The shocking truth about ‘organic’ foods grown in the world’s worst environmental cesspool – 40,000 counties and close to 600,000 villages in China are without any environmental protection infrastructure, while creating 280 million tons of waste annually.

The Chinavore’s Dilemma – reports of tainted food, drugs, and toys flowing in from China.

You Don’t Know Where Your Drugs Come From And Neither Does The FDA; U.S. Imports 90 Percent Of Its Antibiotics (And Vitamin A) From China – Manufacturing and Technology News, May 2010.

China Admits Existence Of ‘Cancer Villages’ In Report, As Pollution Concerns Mount

Petition – Keep Chinese Chicken out of School Lunches And Supermarkets