Meat+Poultry - December 2020 - 35

not likely be a bellwether for more countries
to ease their own restrictions of ractopamine
pork, Hayes said.
Hayes insists that Taiwan is not the focus of
the ractopamine debate; it's their neighbor to
the west.
China is one of the most important trading
partners for US agriculture. The country
imported 117 million lbs of US pork in August,
up 21% from the same time last year. Not
only does China import a lot of pork meat
but it purchases parts that are harder to sell
anywhere else, Hayes said.
" China has always been a huge market for
variety meats (offal) and we don't have other
markets for those products, " he said.
China's demand for imported pork has
grown this past year as outbreaks of African
swine fever have decimated its domestic
production. Access to international markets;
especially those in China, are greater than the
incentive to use ractopamine to efficiently
produce lean meat.
Large pork processors, such as Smithfield,
JBS and Tyson, have stopped using
ractopamine in pork production because
it would mean losing business to other
countries' producers.
" JBS USA Pork completely eliminated the
use of ractopamine from its supply chain, and
therefore no longer has barriers to export
its pork products to several countries, such
as China and Europe, which considerably
expands the export market for this business
unit, " said Gilberto Tomazoni, chief executive
officer of JBS Global, in May when discussing
the company's first-quarter financial results.
" The reduction of Chinese export tariffs
across the proteins in the beginning of March,
as well as our ractopamine-free hog supply,
were important drivers in increased exports
to that country. "
In February, Hormel Foods Corp.
announced it was also joining the ractopaminefree movement.
" We can confirm that we have informed our
network of independent farms and suppliers
that we will no longer be accepting any supply
that have been fed or exposed to ractopamine
as of April 1, 2020, " the company said in a
statement. " We have been actively monitoring
the changing global market dynamics for
several years and believe this decision

will further position us to meet growing
international demand. "
The trade association that represents
thousands of US-based hog farmers
supports production methods that do not
compromise safety.
" The National Pork Producers Council
(NPPC) will continue to defend the right of
US hog farmers to use production processes
and products that are safe, " said Rachel Gantz,
communications director for the NPPC.
In 2012 the Codex Alimentarius - an
international food standards commission
established by the World Health Organization
and the Food and Agriculture Organization
- set maximum residue levels (MRL) of
ractopamine at 10 parts per billion (ppb) in
pork and beef muscle meat.
The levels agreed upon were " significantly
higher than what a lot of countries wanted,
thanks to some intensive lobbying by the US, "
said Daniel Waltz, staff attorney for the Animal
Legal Defense Fund.
Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) set the MRL of
ractopamine at 50 ppb for pork and 30 ppb for
beef, significantly higher than the levels set by
the Codex.

FEED FIGHT
Animal welfare organizations argue that the
FDA approved the higher MRL of ractopamine
in livestock feed as a regulatory grab for the
meat industry.
" The agency was acting in the interest
of the (meat) industry, not in the interest
of animal health, " said Steve Roach, food
safety program director for the Food Animal
Concerns Trust. " That's a failure of the FDA,
in terms of their mission to make sure that
animal drugs are safe and effective. It clearly is
effective, or people wouldn't be using it in the
face of these clear animal health risks. But it's
also very clearly unsafe for the animals. "
In response, the FDA said it " evaluates data
submitted by the drug's sponsor demonstrating
that any food derived from animals treated
with the drug is safe for people to eat, that the
drug does not harm the treated animal, and
that the drug was found not to have significant
impact on the environment. "
Studies show that ractopamine can have
adverse effects on animals as it increases

" JBS USA Pork
completely
eliminated the
use of
ractopamine
from its supply
chain, and
therefore no
longer has
barriers to
export its
pork products
to several
countries, such
as China and
Europe. "
- GILBERTO TOMAZONI

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