Contamination Wars: China Counterattacks
China’s announced blocking of imports of some US processed meat that showed signs of contamination–which affects some of the largest US food companies, including Cargill Meat Solutions and Tyson Foods–is the opening salvo in a multi-front counterattack against critics who have questioned the safety of Chinese exports.
As previously reported by China Confidential, Beijing intends to expose the export by US companies of recycled waste vegetable oil and slaugtherhouse animal fat renderings to Asia and Latin America for use as animal feed additives. The firms, which control the collection of recycled restaurant grease in the US, are legally prohibited from selling such products into the US food chain because of the fear of mad-cow disease from the animal components.
The US exports could be processed into biodiesel; but relatively expensive collection and refining methods make foreign food-chain markets more attractive to the US rendering and waste oil collection giants.
