Chicken? Really? Are you $!*$^!# kidding me?

[CountDeMoney]

Great.  Chicom-fil-A.

Chinese-raised chicken could be on U.S. tables soon, too
By: Tarini Parti and Bill Tomson
Politico
September 9, 2013 04:34 PM EDT

Chicken raised and slaughtered in China could be sitting on U.S. grocery store shelves as soon as a year from now, a top meat safety official told POLITICO before leaving on a weeklong trip to China.

Given China's recent history and reputation for food safety, nervousness already surrounds the prospect of U.S.-raised and slaughtered chicken being processed in China before being shipped back to the United States.

But the prospect of Chinese-raised birds also being allowed into the United States will be one of the main topics of discussion on the table, too, when Al Almanza, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, talks to Chinese officials this week. Almanza left for Beijing on Monday for a meeting that was supposed to take place last month, as POLITICO previously reported, but was rescheduled.

The USDA notified China last week that four of its processing plants were cleared by inspectors to begin processing U.S.-origin chicken and selling it back into the American market. Officials have also been inspecting Chinese slaughtering facilities to make sure they are up to U.S. standards, a key prerequisite for China to begin selling its own, homegrown chicken to the U.S., Almanza told POLITICO in an interview at USDA headquarters on Friday.

But more needs to be done to establish equivalency between the U.S. and Chinese poultry plants before the USDA approves the country for exporting its own chicken, which is what a formal letter being sent to Chinese officials in three to four weeks will say, Almanza said. There are some unresolved issues as the USDA works to guarantee that Chinese safety standards are equivalent to U.S. standards.

"What I can tell them is that there are some issues that still need to be addressed," he said.

Consumer safety advocates have been increasingly anxious about allowing any chicken, whether it's just Chinese-processed or Chinese-slaughtered, to be sent over to the U.S., given the country's record on food safety and deadly bird-flu outbreaks.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has previously called approving Chinese plants for processing U.S. chicken "deeply worrisome to American consumers," and groups such as Food and Water Watch have said that the USDA is pursuing the chicken deal with China so that the country will open up its market to U.S. beef.

But Almanza asserted the department has been carefully auditing plants before approving them.

"If we were to determine that their system is equivalent, why wouldn't it be?" he said.

"It's the same [set of standards] we use for any other country. We're not treating China any differently in determining equivalency for exporting to the United States."

[Ed Anger]

Yay. More lead in the diet.

[Neil]

Have fun dying.

[derspiess]

If it saves us 10 cents per bucket of chicken, how could this not be worth it?? 

[Ed Anger]

I blame Xiacob.

[CountDeMoney]

If it saves us 10 cents per bucket of chicken, how could this not be worth it?? 

to begin processing U.S.-origin chicken and selling it back into the American market.

How in the wide world of sports can it be cost-effective to send chicken all the way to the other side of the globe, get processed into various chicken-like substances and then send it back?
Why not rinse it all off in the Ganges while we're at it, because we all know how much better chicken nuggets are when they taste like curry and dirty feet.  WTFKFC

[Jacob]

I blame Xiacob.

And I blame you.

I'm in favour of stringent food safety regulations and locally produced foodstuffs.

You're the arch-priest of the shareholder value moloch and the cretin who actually eats industrial chicken product while prioritizing a $0.05 price cut. The blame, sir, lies with you and those like you.

[Neil]

I think it's important that you find out which products are being made in China, and then avoid them like the plague.

[Ed Anger]

I blame Xiacob.

And I blame you.

I'm in favour of stringent food safety regulations and locally produced foodstuffs.

You're the arch-priest of the shareholder value moloch and the cretin who actually eats industrial chicken product while prioritizing a $0.05 price cut. The blame, sir, lies with you and those like you.

Somebody is sensitive this evening. 

[Jacob]

I blame Xiacob.

And I blame you.

I'm in favour of stringent food safety regulations and locally produced foodstuffs.

You're the arch-priest of the shareholder value moloch and the cretin who actually eats industrial chicken product while prioritizing a $0.05 price cut. The blame, sir, lies with you and those like you.

Somebody is sensitive this evening. 

I was hoping you might be...   

[Caliga]

You people might find this hard to believe but most of my groceries are sourced locally.  My beef?  Slaughtered at a farm in Oldham County, like 15 miles from here.  Pork?  Mostly comes from southern Indiana.

[Ed Anger]

Mine are locally sourced from Kroger. It's less than 2 miles away. 

[Caliga]

Mine are locally sourced from Kroger. It's less than 2 miles away. 

I'll shop at Kroger for stuff like detergent, deodorant, headache medicine, etc. 

[Grey Fox]

Eat local, they say!

[Eddie Teach]

You people might find this hard to believe but most of my groceries are sourced locally.  My beef?  Slaughtered at a farm in Oldham County, like 15 miles from here.  Pork?  Mostly comes from southern Indiana.

I don't find that hard to believe at all, sadly.