Husi Food Co. food safety case goes to trial

A criminal trial centered around a food safety scandal tied to OSI Group’s Husi Food Co. has gone to trial, with two company units and ten people being accused of selling food unfit for consumption.
The case dates back to 2014, when employees of Husi Food Co., allegedly repackaged outdated chicken and beef, then allegedly sold the expired products with false labels to restaurant chains in China and Japan, including McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut and Dico’s. The ten defendants were formally charged at the end of September.
According to a Channel News Asia report, the trial began on December 28 and is expected to last several days.
OSI Group has not publicly commented on the trial proceedings, but did offer this brief statement after the ten suspects were charged: ““We have confidence in China’s legal system and believe that the judicial authority will come to a fair and reasonable judgment with full respect to the facts and laws.”
Since the scandal took place, OSI Group made substantial changes to the organizational and management structures for its China operations. The company also closed the plant under investigation and removed Husi products from the marketplace.
OSI Group CEO Sheldon Lavin has also publicly apologized for the scandal.

Chuying Farming invests in 200,000-ton-per-year meat processing plant

Chuying Farming has announced that it plans to invest RMB 177 million in building a 200,000-ton-per-year output meat processing plant in Weishi County in Henan Province, China. The primary products will include both warmed and frozen ham sausage and Chinese-style sauces, according to the company.
The company projects that the sales income of the above-mentioned products will be around RMB 880 million after the plant is finished. After calculating taxes, the annual profit will be around RMB 41 million. Using these rates, it will take 4.1 years for the company to recover its investments in profits, counting a construction time of one year.
Chuying Farming has said that the construction of this project supports Weishi County’s 1-million-head-per-year pig slaughtering project, and part of the additional products from the plant will be consumed locally, so as to save on transportation costs. It will simultaneously integrate the production scale and ensure meat safety. After the project is completed, it will improve Chuying’s industry chain, optimize the company’s production composition and improve the company’s sustainable development, according to Chuying.

China top global meat producer

Last year China produced 29% of the global meat output, China Daily recently reported.
The country's meat production was 72.69 million tons last year, an increase over the previous year of 6%.
Pork took the top slot in production, with 63.5% of output.
China also imported 1.84 million tons of meat in 2008.

China challenges US ban on poultry

China has contested a US ban on the import of Chinese poultry in a case filed with the World Trade Organization.

Beijing also said Washington is breaking global commerce rules in stopping Chinese chicken parts from entering the US, according to an Associated Press report.

The bird flu outbreak of 2004 saw both nations bar the import of the other’s poultry. China lifted the embargo a few months later.

Since 2004, more than 4 million tons of US poultry have made their way to China -- most being parts, such as chicken feet, favorable only in China.

China, Japan meat giants sign $168 million project

China's largest meat producer, the Shineway Group, has signed a $168 million (1.15 billion yuan) joint project agreement with Japan's largest meat processing company, Nippon Meat Packers.
Under the deal, the two companies will build a facility in Henan province that will include feed processing, breeder production, broiler production, slaughtering, and processing. It is scheduled to be completed in 2010.
Shineway will own the joint project, Lei Yuting, a manager in the company's investment and development office, told Poultry International.
Nippon Meat Packers will be responsible for the broiler production, he added.
Currently, Henan-based Shineway Group produces processed chicken products, but does not operate any broiler farms or broiler slaughterhouses.
According to Lei, the company’s new plant is expected to provide 50 million birds to its own poultry processing factories and food services every year, with 3 billion yuan of annual sales income.
The new facility will help Shineway take on China's current market leader, Shandong-based Liuhe Group Co., Ltd., which ranks first with 200 million birds of annual output.

Report on China processing market available

A report on China’s slaughter and meat processing market is available, and it includes information on egg yield and production, according to a news release.
The report shows poultry egg yield was 25.13 million tons in 2007, rising 1.05 million tons from 2006, having increased by 4.4%.
The share of poultry egg per capita was 22.3 kilos in 2007, increasing by 4 kilos from 2006.