Shareholders of Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, approved on Tuesday the company’s sale to Shuanghui International Holdings, Ltd., a Chinese food giant. The sale landed approval at $4.72 billion, making it the largest-ever Chinese purchase of a U.S. company. The deal will likely close on Thursday. In July, Smithfield CEO Larry Pope told lawmakers on the Senate Agriculture Committee that the transition of ownership would not impact food safety. Pope also assured committee members that the deal would not result in Chinese food being imported to the U.S. The deal is occurring at a time when China has seen a number of recent food-safety scandals, including a story of 46 people who were imprisoned for selling pork from diseased pigs. The recent scandals have driven many Chinese consumers to seek out foreign food, and many believe that Shuanghui has pursued Smithfield to capitalize on the American company’s reputation as a provider of safe pork. Shuanghui itself faced a scandal in 2011 when it was revealed that some of its pork contained clenbuterol, an illegal chemical that keeps pork meat leaner but is poisonous to humans. The Smithfield, VA-based company has annual sales of around $13 billion and employs approximately 46,000 people in 26 states.
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The revocation of the use of Citrus Red No. 2 by the FDA will have virtually no impact because industry abandoned the use of the substance several years ago.
As part of its enforcement activities, the Food and Drug Administration sends warning letters to entities under its jurisdiction. Some letters are not posted for public view until weeks or
The Food and Drug Administration uses import alerts to enforce U.S. food safety regulations for food from foreign countries. The agency updates and modifies the alerts as needed.
Recent
Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Inc. is recalling select flavors of Outshine Fruit Bars because of consumer complaints about contamination with glass.
Products affected include Outshine Strawberry, Watermelon, Grape, Tangerine
Salata Dressings of Houston, TX, is recalling its Jalapeno Avocado Dressing because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.
The recalled products were distributed in Texas HEB grocery
Grand Central Bakery of Seattle, WA, is recalling loaves of Potato Sourdough because they may contain the presence of pieces of metal.
The following products are subject to recall and
L-Nutra of Culver City, CA, is recalling Prolon brand Apulian Almond & Cocoa Spread because it contains undeclared cashew, pistachio and hazelnut.
People who have an allergy or severe
