China to buy out biggest pork producers in the USA

Move over Paula Deen, Smithfield's got a new bacon mama.

That is, if the largest Chinese buyout of an American company is allowed to go through.
Chinese takeover of Smithfield.

Smithfield is already the biggest, baddest bacon producer around, controlling about one third of the U.S. pork supply, most of which is raised on factory farms. Now the largest Chinese pork company wants to buy them out completely for $5 billion.

Here are a few reasons this is a really bad idea , for farmers and for the U.S. food supply:

1. China has weak food safety standards, and Shuanghui Holding International, the Chinese company that is buying Smithfield, was embroiled in a food safety scandal for producing and selling pork laced with the banned veterinary drug clenbuterol, which is linked to serious human health risks.

2. Chinese ownership of Smithfield can only complicate and shield potential future food safety problems from U.S. oversight.

3. Smithfield is the world's biggest pork producer and owns the most hogs in the U.S. The company has a growing stranglehold over U.S. farmers, who have fewer options for selling their hogs at the market and are prey to abusive contracts from processors like Smithfield.

4. Already, 95% of hogs in the U.S. are raised on factory farms, and this merger could increase that. We may export the pork, but we keep the millions of gallons of manure right here in U.S. hog raising communities in North Carolina and Iowa.

More here :
www.forbes.com...

No offense to the Chinese ,but have a huge problem with this,because of how the Chinese treat animals in general . Our food factories are bad enough . This would be much worse .

I however,have no issues with the hog manure .
I think it could easily be used as an alternative fuel supply ,which is just ignored by the fuel and energy entities in the usa.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by boncho


Actually ,the deal hasn't gone thru yet . And sorry for double posts. I'm new here ,and this place is so huge ,I have no idea where to look for what .
I didn't do a search tho . Sorry !

China to buy out biggest pork producers in the USA?

They're buying the U.S. Congress? Awesome!

reply to post by this_is_who_we_are


I know. And the Japanese bought everything else years ago .

reply to post by PtolemyII

China to buy out biggest pork producers in the USA

Been reading this story all day across the web.

We know a family who runs a fairly large hog and chicken farm. The connection goes back to the late 80s when the area was under a severe drought and livestockers were setting up roadside butcheries.

Anyway, these folks have turned away numerous offers over the years on offers to have their stock yards overseen and run by big industrial processors.

As it turns out... it may have been a good move because China has a rough rep when it comes to foodstuffs. My guess is that Smithfield will be renamed and the linkage will be purposely and legally hidden under a new name.

Good to know someone with pigs and birds

reply to post by redoubt


My understanding is ,the deal isn't final yet. There's an outcry to senators etc ,to stop the deal before it goes thru .
The Chinese treat animals ...so horribly......I cannot abide this.

This is embarrassing that there are laws to sell companies to China like this. The patriot in me wants to protest by playing kosher.

Nom nom nom

www.grubstreet.com...

Chinese Meat Producer Buying Smithfield Foods Had a Maggot Problem



We knew the very large meat producer Shuanghui International, which announced on Wednesday it would buy the even bigger Smithfield Foods for $5 billion dollars, was at the center of a nasty clenbuterol-tainted meat scandal in 2011. But apparently that's not all: Several reports, including one from a woman who opened a package of sausages last year and found a bunch of maggots, are slowly bringing the company's sketchy food safety into sharp focus. Another incident from 2012 involved cumin sausages and "excessive" bacteria, and while Shuanghui isn't talking about any of these alleged incidents, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro is. The Connecticut lawmaker focused previously on food-safety legislation and has released a statement on the pending deal. "I have deep doubts about whether this merger best serves American consumers," it warns, in part, "and urge federal regulators to put their concerns first."