Lab-grown meat to go on sale in Singapore in world first

SINGAPORE - Lab-grown chicken will soon be available in restaurants for the first time after winning the green light from Singapore regulators.

US start-up Eat Just said Wednesday that its meat, created from animal cells and produced in bioreactors, had been approved for sale in the city-state as an ingredient in chicken bites. 

It said in a statement the news marked a "breakthrough for the global food industry", as it seeks to find less environmentally harmful ways of producing meat. 

Meat consumption is projected to increase over 70 percent by 2050, according to Eat Just, and experts have frequently warned it is a key driver of climate change. 

"I'm sure that our regulatory approval for cultured meat will be the first of many in Singapore and in countries around the globe," said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just. 

"Working in partnership with the broader agriculture sector and forward-thinking policymakers, companies like ours can help meet the increased demand for animal protein as our population climbs to 9.7 billion by 2050."

The company said it had conducted over 20 production runs in 1,200 liter bioreactors, and checks on safety and quality showed its "cultured" product -- the term for meat grown in labs from animal cells -- met food standards. 

The meat was approved by the Singapore Food Agency, the city-state's regulator, after an extensive safety review, Eat Just said. 

Agence France-Presse

Vegan rivals smell blood as virus hits meat supply

NEW YORK -- Champions of plant-based meat see an opportunity to make inroads with American shoppers in the wake of coronavirus outbreaks at US slaughterhouses that have pressured meat supply.

Prices of conventional protein have surged in recent weeks following the temporary closure of at least 18 meat processing plants in the US at a time of already-elevated demand due to panic buying and pantry loading.

The upshot is that producers of plant-based steaks, nuggets and sausages see a chance to win over shoppers from a broader set of consumers.

"Relative to higher prices in the protein market today, we can make significant inroads into consumers and help them expand their choices of proteins," Beyond Meat Chief Executive Ethan Brown said this week.

Brown added that the company plans "heavier discounting" of some products to make them more competitive with old-fashioned meat.

Another emerging player in plant-based meat, Impossible Foods, also from California, this week launched in Kroger, the nation's biggest grocery chain.

The move expands the retail footprint by 18-fold to 2,700 retail locations, said the company, which boasts that its products can be used in stews, sauces or on a barbecue.

"We are moving as quickly as possible to expand with additional outlets and in more retail channels," said Impossible Foods President Dennis Woodside.

Part of the opportunity is that the disruptions from coronavirus comes on the heels of the hit from African swine fever, which has hit Asia's pork supply.

"Agricultural challenges in commodity crop production and processing will be slower to percolate into the food chain, meaning plant-based burgers and chicken alternatives have a window of opportunity right now to present themselves as more reliable alternatives –- or potentially the only choice –- next to empty meat cases in grocery stores," said Sara Olsen of Lux Research.

UPHEAVAL PRESENTS TEST, OPPORTUNITY

Though growing fast, alternative meat accounts for just a tiny portion of the current market.

Beyond Meat estimates that its products have reached just 3.6 percent of US households. The company's revenues in the just-ended quarter more than doubled to $97.1 million, but that is still a pittance compared to the $10.1 billion reported by Tyson Foods in the same period.

But COVID-19 has exposed the meat processing plants as a weak link in the supply chain, denting supply at a time of intense demand.

Fresh beef sales rose by more than 45 percent and chicken by more than 40 percent over the last eight weeks compared with last year, according to Nielsen.

US slaughterhouses have emerged as outbreak hotspots in several states, compelling plant closures, especially for pork and beef. Crowded workspaces are common at the plants, making social distancing difficult.

The Farm Bureau has estimated that pork processing capacity has been reduced by as much as 20 percent and beef processing capacity as much as ten percent.

Costco this week became the latest big grocer to limit consumer meat purchases, joining Kroger and Wegmans.

On Wednesday, fast-food chain Wendy's said some of its restaurants have stopped offering beef products online because of tight supply, prompting it to shift to marketing around chicken for which supplies are more robust.

Alternative meat companies have not been immune from upheaval amid COVID-19.

Beyond Meat withdrew its 2020 financial forecast due to COVID-19 uncertainty and said it had seen a big drop-off in demand from restaurants and other food-service customers that had led it to reroute products to retail stores where sales have been strong. The company will also go slow on some new product launches, such as breakfast sausage offering.

But Beyond Meat's Brown expressed confidence in the company's prospects

"There is an opportunity for the consumer to become more aware of a different model of doing this," he said. "And we want to be as aggressive as we can to provide the consumer with that additional option."

Agence France-Presse

China reshapes global meat markets as swine fever rages

LONDON/BEIJING -- China is scouring the world for meat to replace the millions of pigs killed by African swine fever (ASF), boosting prices, business and profits for European and South American meatpackers as it re-shapes global markets for pork, beef and chicken.

The European Union, the world's second largest pork producer after China, has ramped up sales to the Asian giant although it can only fill part of the shortfall caused by ASF. Argentina and Brazil have approved new export plants to meet demand and are selling beef and chickens, as well as pork, to fill the gap. U.S. producers, however, have been hampered due to tariffs imposed by Beijing.

Other Asian countries are also ready to step up imports as they, too, deal with outbreaks of ASF. Vietnam, the Philippines, North and South Korea, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia are all struggling to contain outbreaks of the disease, which is deadly to pigs although not harmful to humans.

"It is very good news for those involved in processing and have licenses for exports to China," said Justin Sherrard, global strategist, animal protein at Rabobank.

Major EU pork processors include Danish Crown, Tonnies Group and Vion Food Group although the market is fragmented with many small- and medium-size players.

Shortages in the world's top pork consumer have been exacerbated by the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations in late January, when pork, and pork dumplings in particular, play a central role in the food on offer.

One of the biggest European players Danish Crown said there had been a very clear jump in demand from China in the run-up to the Lunar New Year and it was bullish on the outlook for 2020.

China's state-owned agriculture conglomerate COFCO said this week it had agreed to buy $100 million of pork from Danish Crown in 2020 to help ease the domestic shortage.

NEW PLANTS IN SOUTH AMERICA

Rabobank estimates that China's hog herd, the world's largest, fell by half in the first eight months of 2019 and will likely shrink by 55 percent by the end of the year.

Many more meat plants in Argentina and Brazil have recently been approved to export to China including beef and chicken as well as pork.

Nicholas Lafontaine, a cattle rancher from the town of Azul, 300 kilometers (186 miles) southwest of Buenos Aires, said China had traditionally taken cheap cuts with premium steaks destined for the EU.

China is now taking the whole carcass, reducing the amount of meat sold on the local market for Argentina peso, a currency which has lost around a third of its value this year.

As processing margins have improved, plants have reopened.

"The other benefit that comes from growing Chinese demand is the reopening of beef plants, he said, adding that when a factory opens its doors it is thinking about China.

Neighboring Brazil has also benefited.

According to Brazilian meat trade groups, in one go Beijing authorized Brazil to more than double the number of beef plants with permits to sell directly to mainland China -- to 33.

Brazil exported 1.64 million tonnes of beef in 2018 with China buying 19.3 percent of the volume, trailing only Hong Kong. The South American country's exports have been forecast to rise to 1.8 million tonnes this year.

"China is the market paying the highest premiums for Brazilian meatpackers," Luciano Pascon, chief executive of privately-owned meatpacker Frigol, told Reuters in an interview.

TRADE WAR HITS US PRODUCERS

Hefty tariffs on American pork imposed by China as part of the ongoing trade conflict are likely to mean that the US industry will benefit less than its rivals.

US-based meat packers such as Smithfield Foods have, however, been able to secure some direct sales. Tyson Foods expects to benefit from African swine fever by increasing sales to China or other countries as the outbreak redirects global meat trading.

Tyson Foods share price has risen about 50 percent so far this year.

Trent Thiele, a farmer who raises about 60,000 hogs a year in Elma, Iowa, said, however, the trade war is hurting American hog producers.

Thiele said he would prefer selling US pork to Chinese buyers than picking up residual business elsewhere in the world because China is a main buyer of products such as pigs' feet and organ meat that other countries have little appetite for.

"A lot of our other competitor countries are obtaining the market share that naturally would have been ours if we didn't have the retaliatory tariffs," said Thiele, president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

ASTRONOMICAL

Imported pork ribs currently cost around 40,000 yuan ($5,680) per ton, compared with 17,600 yuan in spring 2019, traders said, while prices for other cuts such as pig front leg and rib meat have roughly doubled in that period.

"Right now, prices are astronomical, and the risk is very high," said a Beijing-based beef importer, who was struggling to gauge the right volumes to meet demand and avoid being left with expensive stock at the end of the holiday period.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's Meat Price Index is up 12.5 percent so far this year and is at the highest level since January 2015.

The pork component has risen by more than 20 percent.

The high global pork prices are even sparking interest in pig farming in predominately Muslim Kazahkstan.

"Not a week goes by without someone visiting us who wants to get into pig farming," said Maksut Baktibayev, chairman of Kazakhstan's Meat Union, an industry lobby group.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

China inflation surges as pork prices soar

BEIJING - China's consumer inflation accelerated at its fastest pace in almost 6 years in September as African swine fever sent pork prices soaring nearly 70 percent, official data showed Tuesday.

Authorities have gone as far as tapping the nation's pork reserve to control prices of the staple meat, as the swine fever crisis could become a political and economic liability for the state.

The consumer price index (CPI) -- a key gauge of retail inflation -- hit 3.0 percent last month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, up from 2.8 percent in August and the highest since since November 2013.

Analysts in a Bloomberg news poll had forecast 2.9 percent.

The rise was caused by food price inflation, particularly disruptions to pork supply, Capital Economics said in a note.

The price of pork soared 69.3 percent on-year in September, the NBS said.

Beijing's official statistics say around one million pigs have been killed since the first outbreak of swine fever in August but that is widely considered to be an underestimate.

This in turn has also pushed up prices of other meats including beef, chicken and duck and eggs by up to 19 percent as consumers switched to other sources of protein. 

"Looking ahead, consumer price inflation should continue to accelerate in the coming months as supply disruptions continue to push up pork prices and as the drag from lower oil prices eases," said Martin Lynge Rasmussen from Capital Economics.

Producer prices, however, continued to slide for the fifth straight month, hit by weakening demand and mounting trade tensions with the US.

The producer price index (PPI) -- an important barometer of the industrial sector that measures the cost of goods at the factory gate -- contracted 1.2 percent in September from the previous year, the NBS said.

A slowdown in factory gate inflation reflects sluggish demand, while a turn to deflation could dent corporate profits and drag on the world's number two economy.

This in turn could lead to a drop in prices globally. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Happy holidays? Not in China if frozen pork is on the table

* China has released 30,000 tons of reserve pork this month

* Aims to keep lid on soaring prices ahead of holidays

* Consumers say volumes too small, frozen meat not appetizing

BEIJING - China's supermarkets are topping up their meat counters with frozen pork from state reserves, after prices of the nation's favorite protein source surged to budget-busting levels, threatening to mar this week's National Day festivities.

Pork, which has a prominent place at nearly every Chinese dinner table, is in short supply after a deadly virus infected and killed millions of hogs across China over the last year.

Beijing has stepped in to try and quell prices that have jumped to almost double what they were a year ago and are still climbing, releasing 30,000 tons of pork in three batches over the last fortnight.

That appears to have dampened further price increases for now and helped sales, at least in the capital Beijing.

"Pork is selling much better compared with three weeks ago," said a butcher at the Qianxi Street branch of Yonghui Superstores in southwestern Beijing.

"Today we have very cheap frozen pork belly, it's only 17.98 yuan (per kg, or $2.52 per pound) compared with 35.98 yuan for fresh," he said. "We're not sure where the meat is from but it must be from Beijing's reserves."

Cheaper meat will be a relief to many ahead of the holidays. Chinese typically gather for elaborate meals during festivals, and most of the repasts will feature pork in some form.

Sufficient pork supply is a "most basic requirement" for the people's welfare, said Vice Premier Hu Chunhua in a televised message to officials in late August. He urged them to guarantee supplies and increase the scale of reserves.

Shoppers in Beijing said they will not skimp on meat during the National Day holiday, whatever the price, although they have been reducing their intake at regular mealtimes.

"Before I would buy four or five ribs, but now I only buy two or three, as long as it's enough for a meal," said a retiree surnamed Wang shopping at the Yonghui store.

Many people are substituting chicken, duck or beef for some of their pork intake, with pork so pricy that even more expensive meats now appear affordable.

For some, however, it is hard to stomach a change in diet.

"My family doesn't like beef, it's a heating food, so I can only buy pork," said Wang, referring to the classification of foods as either "heating" or "cooling" in traditional Chinese medicine.

DROP IN THE OCEAN

State sales will have limited impact on prices overall, said Miranda Zhou, an analyst at Euromonitor, with total reserve volumes sold in recent weeks just a "drop in the ocean" in a country that eats about 40 million tonnes of pork a year.

News of the latest sale from state food stores was trending on Weibo, China's popular microblogging site, with many users commenting on how reserve pork had done little to cool prices.

Others questioned the quality of pork that had been in storage, describing it as "zombie meat".

"In addition to the small volumes, in the south they like fresh pork, so frozen pork really isn't appealing," said Zhou, the analyst.

A man surnamed Zheng shopping in a wet market in downtown Nanning, 2,000 km (1,250 miles) south of the capital, said he had not seen any frozen meat on sale there.

"We don't eat that kind of stuff here," he said.

"Even if there was frozen pork, we wouldn't buy it. We only eat fresh meat."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Existential debate in US food industry: What is meat?

NEW YORK - Can a hamburger or steak be labeled "meat" if it is plant-based? 

That question has sparked a debate about US food labels as key US cattle industry players have sought to crack down on marketing of proteins made from soy and other plant-based substances.

Jessica Almy, policy director of the non-profit Good Food Institute, which promotes meat-alternatives, said labels must state clearly if a product is made from soy or another plant, but they usually make sense in context.

"Regardless of whether it is made of beef, soy, or wheat, a burger tells you it can be cooked on a grill, placed on a bun, and served with mustard and ketchup," she said.

Almy also sees no alternative to labeling as "meat" new products made from animal cells grown in a lab. Such protein offerings are expected to hit US supermarkets and specialty shops within the next few years.

"These are muscles and fat. It would be extremely misleading to call it other than meat," said Almy said.

That stance has enraged some in the traditional meat industry, spurring the US Cattlemen's Association to file a petition to the Agriculture Department to reserving the term "meat" or "beef" to protein derived from slaughtered animals.

"Labels indicating that a product is 'beef' should be limited to product from cattle that have been born, raised and harvested in the traditional manner," the petition said.

The cattle association, which represents ranchers and cattle breeders, said it wants to avoid a similar outcome to the dairy industry, which has seen alternative products made of soy, almond and other non-dairy sources take 10 percent of the "milk" market.

"We started seeing these products put into the meat shelves in the grocery stores with packaging, label and design misleading the consumers into believing that perhaps it is a healthier version of the traditional meat or perhaps this is real beef," said USCA spokeswoman Lia Biondo.

"We are trying to preempt the issue, to prevent what the dairy industry is going through."

INDUSTRY SPLIT 

For now, alternative meat products represent a tiny portion of US protein sales. But the items are becoming more widely used, and not just by vegetarians.

Startups in alternative food today offer products that do a much-improved job of simulating the taste, texture and smell of traditional meat. Industry players say it is only a matter of time before these options are made with animal cells, further complicating the picture.

While the USCA petition has won some support, not all in the food industry have signed on.

The Farm Bureau generally supports the idea behind the petition, but does not want oversight of alternative proteins to shift outside of the Agriculture Department.

"If it is not called meat, what is it then? We want to retain the jurisdiction under the Secretary of Agriculture," said Dale Moore, who is in charge of public affairs for the Farm Bureau.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association, which counts among its members meat distributors and processors, has not signed the petition either.

Chris Kerr, investment manager at New Crop Capital, a venture capital firm investing in alternative food companies, said efforts like the USCA petition illustrate a head-in-the-sand approach to shifting tastes.

"We are looking at a major behavioral shift by a whole segment of the consumer population, driven a lot by the millennials. They are very open to plant-based food, to being flexitarian," he said.

"The industry can fight this, but they are arguably fighting against themselves because ultimately most meat producers will have some stake in this and it will be a successful outcome," he added.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

No burgers at some McDonald's in China

SHANGHAI - McDonald's outlets in Beijing and Shanghai have yanked their flagship burgers off the menu after a key US supplier recalled products made by its Shanghai factory, which is alleged to have used expired meat.

Authorities in Shanghai just over a week ago shut a plant owned by privately-held OSI Group for mixing out-of-date meat with fresh product and later detained five officials from the OSI subsidiary which operated it, Shanghai Husi Food Co.

The factory's customers in China included McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, coffee chain Starbucks, Burger King, 7-Eleven convenience stores and Papa John's Pizza, according to the companies.

An operator from the McDonald's national delivery hotline said Monday that beef and chicken items were unavailable in the Shanghai area, though fish and pork could be ordered.

"We have stopped selling all products related to Husi for food safety. Products affected mainly used beef and chicken," he said.

At a McDonald's in central Beijing, counter staff told customers that the branch only had the Filet-O-Fish sandwich.

At every cash register, there were signs in both Chinese and English reading: "We regret to let you know that currently we will only be able to provide a limited menu at our restaurant."

It was unclear how wide the shortages are. By the end of April, McDonald's had more than 2,000 restaurants in China, according to its website.

McDonald's China could not be immediately reached for comment.

OSI Group, based in Aurora, Illinois, announced over the weekend that it was withdrawing all products made by the factory in Shanghai.

"We are compelled to withdraw all products manufactured by Shanghai Husi from the marketplace," OSI said in a statement dated Saturday.

The parent company was conducting an internal investigation and had installed a new management team in the wake of the incident, it said.

"Should any misconduct be uncovered, we will take swift and decisive action against those responsible, including all relevant disciplinary and/or legal measures," the statement said.

State media said last week that authorities had confirmed allegations aired by a Shanghai television station, that the factory used expired meat and mis-labelled products.

The "bad meat" scandal, as it has been called by Chinese media, has spread to Japan and Hong Kong -- a special administrative region of China.

McDonald's said Friday that its more than 3,000 restaurants in Japan had stopped selling products made with chicken from China, regardless of supplier. Japanese convenience store giant Family Mart stopped selling chicken sourced from the Shanghai plant.

In Hong Kong, McDonald's suspended sales of chicken nuggets and several other items including chicken burgers, salads and lemon tea after admitting it imported food from the problem factory.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

LOOK: Spam offers tocino variant

MANILA – Did you know that the precooked meat brand Spam has a variant that is inspired by a Filipino breakfast dish?

Spam is currently offering a “limited edition” Tocino variant at $3 each, according to its website. The label shows the popular meat product with a glaze similar to tocino, a sweet pork dish usually served for breakfast in Filipino homes.



Nutrition facts of Spam Tocino show that it has less sodium (590 mg per 2-oz serving) compared to its original variant (790 mg), although it has one gram of sugar per serving.

Some netizens have been talking about Spam Tocino on Twitter after the restaurant smartphone app Looloo shared the trivia via the microblogging site.

Other variants of Spam include Less Sodium, Black Pepper, Teriyaki, Chorizo, With Cheese, Hickory Smoke, Jalapeño, With Bacon and Hot and Spicy.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Holy cow! World's first in-vitro beef burger to make history on Monday

LONDON - A corner of west London will see culinary and scientific history made on Monday when scientists cook and serve up the world's first lab-grown beef burger.

The in-vitro burger, cultured from cattle stem cells, the first example of what its creator says could provide an answer to global food shortages and help combat climate change, will be fried in a pan and tasted by two volunteers.

The burger is the result of years of research by Dutch scientist Mark Post, a vascular biologist at the University of Maastricht, who is working to show how meat grown in petri dishes might one day be a true alternative to meat from livestock.

The meat in the burger has been made by knitting together around 20,000 strands of protein that has been cultured from cattle stem cells in Post's lab.

The tissue is grown by placing the cells in a ring, like a donut, around a hub of nutrient gel, Post explained.

To prepare the burger, scientists combined the cultured beef with other ingredients normally used in burgers, such as salt, breadcrumbs and egg powder. Red beet juice and saffron have been added to bring out its natural colours.

"Our burger is made from muscle cells taken from a cow. We haven't altered them in any way," Post said in a statement on Friday. "For it to succeed it has to look, feel and hopefully taste like the real thing."

VIABLE ALTERNATIVE?

Success, in Post's view, would mean not just a tasty burger, but also the prospect of finding a sustainable, ethical and environmentally friendly alternative to meat production.

According to a 2006 report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), industrialized agriculture contributes on a "massive scale" to climate change, air pollution, land degradation, energy use, deforestation and biodiversity decline.

The report, entitled Livestock's Long Shadow, said the meat industry contributes about 18 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions and this proportion is expected to grow as consumers in fast-developing countries such as China and India eat more meat.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), annual meat production is projected to rise to 376 million tonnes by 2030 from 218 million tonnes in 1997-1999, and demand from a growing world population is expected to rise beyond that.

Post cites FAO figures suggesting demand for meat is expected to increase by more than two-thirds by 2050.

Animal welfare campaigners applauded the arrival of cultured meat and predicted a great future for it.

"In vitro technology will spell the end of lorries full of cows and chickens, abattoirs and factory farming," the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) campaign group said in a statement. "It will reduce carbon emissions, conserve water and make the food supply safer."

A study published in 2011 comparing the relative environmental impacts of various types of meat, including lamb, pork, beef and cultured meat, said the lab-grown product has by far the least impact on the environment.

Hanna Tuomisto, who conducted the study at Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, found that growing meats in-vitro would use 35 percent to 60 percent less energy, emit 80 percent to 95 percent less greenhouse gas and use around 98 percent less land than conventionally produced animal meat.

While Monday's fry-up will be a world first and only an initial proof-of concept, the Dutch scientist reckons commercial production of cultured beef could begin within the next 20 years.

"What we are going to attempt is important because I hope it will show cultured beef has the answers to major problems that the world faces," he added.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Prices of meat products may rise

MANILA, Philippines - Consumers should brace for a possible increase in the prices of meat products, according to the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (PAMPI).

PAMPI said there could be a spike in prices due to a shortage in meat supply caused by a Department of Agriculture order that limits importation of meat.

In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, PAMPI said the Administratrive Order no. 9  restricts the
trade and distribution of imported meat, causing a shortage in pork and higher prices this month.

PAMPI said the National Meat Inspection Service, an agency under the DA, implemented the order without consultations with the industry group.

"What is clear is that the rules favor the monopoly of supply from local sources and this is further emphasized in the market situation during the Holy Week.  This time of year, although the demand for pork would be at its lowest, pork prices had gone right through the roof! There is a definite shortage of pork but the NMIS continues to strangle our only other alternative for raw materials – imported pork – by making importation of pork more difficult, and in fact impossible for new industry entrants," PAMPI said.

PAMPI called AO no. 9 as "anti-business" for companies involved in food manufacturing and meat processing, as well as import and export. Because of the order, the group claimed that operations of some meat processors have halted, while other companies that depend on meat raw materials have experienced a slowdown in operations.

PAMPI said it opposes the order for several reasons, first it is a "de facto three-year ban on importation of
meat/meat products by new or newly established companies."

The group said the order imposes a minimum paid-up capital requirement of P5 million for new meat importers, which is "arbitrary" and "discriminatory."

It also noted that the order prohibits trade and distribution of Indian buffalo meat, which is effectively a technical barrier to trade. Also, the order goes against the government's aim to simplify policies.

"We ask that the confidentiality of this business information be respected. These are ‘trade secrets’ that cannot be disclosed and should not be asked of us to disclose," it said.

PAMPI said the order's provisions will make the meat trade business more difficult.

"The guideline presents itself as a disincentive for new investments, or even kills the propensity of existing businesses to grow.  This does not align with the objectives of this administration for better business.  It is a clear intent of the NMIS to stifle our growth instead of helping us to grow as rapidly as we can," the group
said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Dead pigs in China river exceed 13,000

SHANGHAI - The number of dead pigs found in a river running through China's commercial hub Shanghai had reached more than 13,000, the government and state media said Monday, as mystery deepened over the hogs' precise origin.

The Shanghai government said workers pulled 335 pigs out of the Huangpu river, which supplies 22 percent of the city's drinking water, on Monday, bringing the total to 9,795 since the infestation began earlier this month.

Shanghai has blamed farmers in Jiaxing in neighbouring Zhejiang province for dumping pigs which died of disease into the river upstream, where the official Xinhua news agency said another 3,601 dead animals had been recovered so far.

The Jiaxing government has said the area is not the sole source of the carcasses, adding it had found only one producer that could be held responsible.

Shanghai had checked farms in its southwestern district of Songjiang, where the pigs were first detected, but found they were not to blame, the Shanghai Daily newspaper said on Monday.

The scandal has spotlighted China's troubles with food safety, adding the country's most popular meat to a growing list of food items rocked by controversy.

Samples of the dead pigs have tested positive for porcine circovirus, a common swine disease that does not affect humans.

"Due to some farming households having a weak recognition of the law, bad habits, and lack of increased supervision and capability for treatment have led to the situation," the national agriculture ministry's chief veterinarian Yu Kangzhen said.

Yu attributed a higher mortality rate among pigs to colder weather this spring, though he ruled out an epidemic, the ministry said in statement posted on its website over the weekend.

The Shanghai government said in its statement that the quality of drinking water remained within national standards, despite widespread worries over water quality among the city's 23 million residents.

The thousands of dead pigs have drawn attention to China's poorly regulated farm production. Animals that die from disease can end up in the country's food supply chain or improperly disposed of, despite laws against the practice.

In Wenling, also in Zhejiang, authorities announced last week that 46 people had been jailed for up to six-and-a-half years for processing and selling pork from more than 1,000 diseased pigs.

China faced one its biggest food-safety scandals in 2008 when the industrial chemical melamine was found to have been illegally added to dairy products, killing at least six babies and making 300,000 people ill.

In another recent incident, the American fast-food giant KFC faced controversy after revealing that some Chinese suppliers provided chicken with high levels of antibiotics, in what appeared to be an industry-wide practice.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Horse DNA found in burgers at second major Irish plant

DUBLIN - Burgers containing horse DNA have been discovered at a second major plant in Ireland, the country's agriculture department said on Monday, again pointing the finger at Poland as the country of origin for the raw materials.

Food companies such as Tesco and Burger King last month found that beef products supplied by an Irish firm contained horse DNA, a scandal that has hit retailers with a wave of bad publicity and left Ireland's 2 billion euro ($2.7 billion) beef industry reeling.

Results of tests on a Polish meat ingredient at Ireland's Rangeland Foods, a supplier of frozen burgers to restaurants, caterers and pubs including local fast food chain Supermac's, contained 75 percent horse DNA, the agriculture department said in a statement.

"This isn't a huge surprise, it's another depressing saga that has put Irish food in the headlines for all the wrong reasons," Irish Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney told national broadcaster RTE.

"It's not a surprise to me because this is the same product that has been going into Silvercrest," he said, referring to the plant run by Ireland's most powerful beef baron Larry Goodman, the first whose burgers were found to contain horsemeat.

Coveney's department said Rangeland has suspended production pending the outcome of an investigation and the company has indicated that none of the products, which were imported through a meat trader based in Ireland, had entered the food chain.

Rangeland, based in the northern county of Monaghan, exports burgers to Britain, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Cyprus. Coveney said the product containing the horse DNA was destined for the catering industry outside Ireland.

LEGAL ACTION

Initial tests on burgers produced by another Irish company, Liffey Meats, also tested positive for low traces of horse DNA, although further tests came back clear.

The minister said the only two other burger manufacturers in the country had both confirmed they have not used any Polish products, and that their products are 100 percent Irish sourced.

He has also asked the police and the fraud squad to join in the investigation and said the government would take legal action against those responsible if necessary.

Silvercrest - a subsidiary of Europe's largest beef exporter ABP Foods which is based just 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) from Rangeland - has lost its contract to supply both Tesco and Burger King with burgers.

Burger King, one of the most popular fast food chains in Britain and Ireland, said last week its affected burgers never reached any eateries. Tesco withdrew a number of products from its shelves, including one sample where horse meat accounted for about 29 percent of content.

Smaller retail chains Aldi, Lidl and Iceland have also sold beef products found to contain horse DNA.

Poland's veterinary authority found no signs of horse meat in samples from five slaughterhouses that were sending beef to Ireland and is awaiting results from the sixth, state news agency PAP reported on Friday.

Food safety experts say horse DNA poses no added health risks to consumers, but the discovery has raised concerns about the food supply chain and the ability to trace meat ingredients.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

'Test-tube burger' to herald end to animal-meat industry?

VANCOUVER - The world's first "test-tube" meat, a hamburger made from a cow's stem cells, will be produced this fall, Dutch scientist Mark Post told a major science conference on Sunday.

Post's aim is to invent an efficient way to produce skeletal muscle tissue in a laboratory that exactly mimics meat, and eventually replace the entire meat-animal industry.

The ingredients for his first burger are "still in a laboratory phase," he said, but by fall "we have committed ourselves to make a couple of thousand of small tissues, and then assemble them into a hamburger."

Post, chair of physiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, said his project is funded with 250,000 euros from an anonymous private investor motivated by "care for the environment, food for the world, and interest in life-transforming technologies."

Post spoke at a symposium titled "The Next Agricultural Revolution" at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Vancouver.

Speakers said they aim to develop such "meat" products for mass consumption to reduce the environmental and health costs of conventional food production.

Conventional meat and dairy production requires more land, water, plants and disposal of waste products than almost all other human foods, they said.

The global demand for meat is expected to rise by 60 percent by 2050, said American scientist Nicholas Genovese, who organized the symposium.

"But the majority of earth's pasture lands are already in use," he said, so conventional livestock producers can only meet the booming demand by further expansion into nature.

The result would be lost biodiversity, more greenhouse and other gases, and an increase in disease, he said.

In 2010 a report by the United Nations Environment Program called for a global vegetarian diet.

"Animal farming is by far the biggest ongoing global catastrophe," Patrick Brown of the Stanford University School of Medicine told reporters.

"More to the point, it's incredibly ready to topple ... it's inefficient technology that hasn't changed fundamentally for millennia," he said.

"There's been a blind spot in the science and technology community (of livestock production) as an easy target."

Brown, who said he is funded by an American venture capital firm and has two start-ups in California, said he will devote the rest of his life to develop products that mimic meat but are made entirely from vegetable sources.

He is working "to develop and commercialize a product that can compete head on with meat and dairy products based on taste and value for the mainstream consumer, for people who are hard-core meat and cheese lovers who can't imagine ever giving that up, but could be persuaded if they had a product with all taste and value."

Brown said developing meat from animal cells in a laboratory will still have a high environmental cost, and so he said he will rely only on plant sources.

Both scientists said no companies in the existing meat industry have expressed interest.

source: interaksyon.com

Canned, processed meat raise diabetes risk - study

Native Americans who often ate processed meat in a can, generically known as "spam" and a common food on reservations, one subsidized by the US government - had a two-fold increased risk of developing diabetes over those who ate little or none, according to a US study.

Native Americans are at especially high risk of developing diabetes, with nearly half having the condition by age 55.

Researchers writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition surveyed 2,000 Native Americans from Arizona, Oklahoma and North and South Dakota to look into potential reasons for the high rate.

"A lot of communities in this study are in very rural areas with limited access to grocery stores... and they want to eat foods that have a long shelf life," said Amanda Fretts, the lead author and a researcher at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

None of the survey participants, whose average age was 35, had diabetes at the start of the study when they answered questions about diet and other health and lifestyle factors.

After five years, a follow-up survey found that 243 people had developed diabetes.

Among the 500 people in the original study group who ate the most canned processed meat, 85 developed diabetes. In contrast, among the 500 people who ate the least amount of "spam," just 44 developed the disease.

Though Spam is a brand-name pork product, the lower-case term is also used to describe any kind of processed, canned meat, Fretts said. Canned meat is available freely to many Native Americans on reservations as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food assistance program.

Fretts and her colleagues found that unprocessed meat did not have the same relationship with diabetes, with people equally likely to develop diabetes regardless of how much hamburger or cuts of pork or beef they ate.

"I think what this study indicates is processed meats should be a priority for reduction (in the diet), especially among American Indians where they can go to food assistance programs and they can get discounted spam," said Dariush Mozaffarian, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health who was not involved in the study.

Mozaffarian and his colleagues two years ago conducted an analysis that found that processed meats were tied to a 19 percent higher diabetes risk, while unprocessed meats were neutral.

"I think the biggest difference between processed and unprocessed meats is sodium," he said, though he added that there is no clear explanation for the link of processed meats and diabetes.

Fretts and her colleagues noted that the people who ate the most processed meats tended also to be heavier, with larger waistlines, raising the possibility that processed meats contribute to obesity, which raises the risk of diabetes.

In an emailed statement to Reuters Health, The American Meat Institute, which represents companies that process meat, said that "processed meats are a safe and nutritious part of a balanced diet."

Fretts said the study could not prove that eating processed meats was to blame for the increased risk of diabetes.

"I think there needs to be more follow-up," she said.

source: interaksyon.com