The USDA Apparently Thinks Shipping Chickens To China And Then Back To The US Is Okay
The United States Department of Agriculture has taken an alarming step by allowing four chicken processing plants in China to process chickens raised in the United States. After processing, they’ll be shipped back to the United States and slapped on our plates. Unless, you know, you don’t eat chicken.
Food safety experts are supremely concerned with the safety and quality of the chicken in a country that births most avian influenzas and a variety of food-borne illnesses like hepatitis A.
“Economically, it doesn’t make much sense,” said Tom Super, spokesman for the National Chicken Council, in an 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.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that American poultry processors are paid about $11 an hour. In China, the same workers are paid $1 to $2 per hour. So not only are you more likely to get less quality and safety in your food, but the chicken meat you buy that’s processed in China perpetuates slave wages.
As you may be aware, the process is already used for seafood. Domestically caught Pacific salmon and crab are currently processed in China and shipped back because of cost savings.
“There are 36 pin bones in a salmon and the best way to remove them is by hand,” says 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.”
China of course is one of the world’s worst food safety offenders. It was released earlier this year that a Chinese chicken jerky manufacturer that made dog treats ended up poisoning about 500 dogs to death.
Think shipping our food to China for processing is an okay idea? Think again.
