WASHINGTON – A food-safety group called a Chinese purchase of America’s largest pork producer “bad news for U.S. farmers and consumers” as opposition began building to the deal.
The buyout of Virginia-based Smithfield Foods by Shuanghui International Holdings — the biggest acquisition of an American firm by a Chinese company — “tightens the grip of multinational agribusinesses,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch.
“While it’s making business news headlines, U.S. consumers will likely not take notice of the change, but it will show up on their plates in the form of farmer exploitation, more factory farms and a more complicated supply 
chain that leaves consumers at higher risk of food contamination,” Hauter said in a statement Thursday, a day after the $5.1 billion deal was announced.
Noting that Smithfield owns more hogs than the next eight largest hog producers combined, Hauter said the company “has a growing stranglehold over U.S. farmers, who have fewer options for selling their hogs at the market.”
China, the world’s No. 1 pork consumer, has been looking to expand its hog holdings. While Smithfield’s stock jumped 20 percent on news of its intended purchase, environmental groups see little upside.
Shuanghui has been the target of allegations that some of its pigs are fed with clenbuterol hydrochloride, a toxic additive that produces leaner meat.
“China scares the daylights of out us,” said Rick Dove, of the Water Keepers Alliance in North Carolina, a group that has sued hog producers in environmental disputes.
“We’ll get spin about production going up. But if you take a look at the record of Chinese companies, they are environmentally challenged.”
The Shuanghui-Smithfield deal requires approval of the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment, which reviews foreign acquisitions for national-security implications.
“To have a Chinese food company controlling a major U.S. meat supplier, without shareholder accountability, is a bit concerning,” Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement.
He calls CFIUS scrutiny “vitally important.”
“How might this deal impact our national security? What role does the Chinese government play in Shuanghui, like it does in so many other ‘private’ companies? These are important questions for CFIUS to get answered.”
Kenric Ward is a national reporter for Watchdog.org and chief of the Virginia Bureau. Contact him at kenric@watchdogvirginia.org or at (571) 319-9824. @Kenricward
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- Reid throws costly wrench at broken immigration courts - February 24, 2016
- Creating Muslim ghettos: Texas spars with Obama admin about refugees - January 11, 2016
- Feds shuttle illegal migrants around Texas - January 7, 2016
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
