Acceptance of chilled chicken in China important to industry’s recovery

USAPEEC's Carl Shi, left, discusses avian influenza while participating in a panel discussion. Richard Hu, right, was also part of the panel.

The disappearance of live markets in China has left consumers there without a venue to purchase poultry the way they like it best. That has posed a problem for an industry already struggling because of consumer fears from an outbreak of avian influenza that infected 131 people and caused 38 deaths during the spring of 2013.
"Many consumers are still thinking fresh chicken meat is more tasty than chilled meat or frozen meat," Carl Shi, manager of the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council office in Shanghai, said during a panel discussion June 13 at the USAPEEC executive conference and annual membership meeting in Williamsburg, Va. "But to change consumer behavior is a relatively long process."
With no new human cases of avian influenza since the later part of May, consumer fears are slowly easing. The Chinese government has allowed live markets to reopen in Zhejiang and Jiangsu. The reopening of some live markets in Shanghai is also expected, but there will be substantially fewer and the regulations will be stricter.
"There will still be live bird markets eventually, but the number will be reduced by 50 percent," Shi said.
Saying Chinese people believe "it's not a banquet without chicken meat," Shi said after two months of minimal chicken consumption, the Chinese will welcome chicken back into their diet. He told USAPEEC members he believes there will be a big jump in chicken consumption during the third quarter of 2013.
To help that projection become a reality, USAPEEC has been actively taking part in a campaign to assure the safety of poultry - both fresh and chilled.
China's cold storage facilities are 90 percent full, and Shi projects the country has a supply of frozen chicken that would last about two months. 

Russia to stop selling frozen poultry in 2011

Russia has announced that it will no longer sell frozen poultry beginning in January 2011.
The transition has been in the works since 2008, according to Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare head Gennady Onishchenko. "[Freezing poultry] is an outdated and rough technology which leads to a loss of many of the useful qualities of meat," he said. Instead of freezing technology, according to Onishchenko, the poultry will be chilled in inert gas, which permits storage for up to 120 days. 
Concerns are already being raised at this announcement. "I can hardly imagine a producer who would be happy with a ban on frozen poultry turnover," said Sergei Yushin, head of an executive committee at the National Meat Association. "Some consumers will be deprived of the product." Yushin also asserts that the technology for chilling poultry with inert gas does not exist.
As for U.S. chicken imports, Onishchenko said, "You are welcome to import poultry, but only chilled, not frozen." Poultry cannot be exported chilled. "It is a corporate decision made on the basis of analysis," said Onishchenko. "I have received loads of letters from governors who thank us and say that Russian producers can guarantee chilled poultry deliveries to consumers without deep freezing."