Consumption of pork unaffected in Beijing

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By Qin Zhongwei and Hu Yinan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-28 07:51

Pork prices remained stable and consumption unchanged in Beijing yesterday in the aftermath of the swine flu outbreak in Mexico as the government assured the pork is safe to eat.

At Xinfadi, Beijing's largest wholesale food market, hog and pork prices stood at between 11.5 yuan ($1.7) and 13.5 yuan per kg.

"The prices are little changed from a few days ago," a pork seller surnamed Wang said. "We didn't see a decline in the number of buyers."

Wang Dequan, chief of Xinfadi's hog and pork market, said the facility supplies 1,700 animals a day. He added: "They were sold out today as well."

But he said he was concerned about the potential impact of the illness, should it spread to the Chinese mainland. A suspected case has been reported in Hong Kong.

"The flu hasn't affected our business because there has been no report of the disease on the mainland. But if there were to be any, the influence would be huge," he said.

He Ping, 27, a civil servant from Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, said she will continue eating pork.

"I'm not very worried because I've learnt the flu is preventable by maintaining personal hygiene," she said.

Huixin Kindergarten in Beijing has decided to serve less pork to children, although no parents have requested it to do so.

A staffer surnamed Zhao said beef and mutton is served instead.

But while the outbreak has not impacted demand, hog prices in the nation's capital are down about 40 percent on the same period last year, when they peaked at about 17 yuan per kg.

The decline has been largely the result of oversupply due in part to the global financial crisis, which caused the closure of thousands of export-oriented factories along China's coasts and the resulting loss of a major market for pork products.

The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday assured the public that Chinese pigs are safe and said attention must be upon people.

"The media are all so concerned about pigs only because this thing's called 'swine flu'. But as a matter of fact, our pigs are doing fine," a press officer, who declined to be named, told China Daily.

"Our focus right now ought to be on human beings."

Scientists have said the A/H1N1 strain is transmitted person-to-person and pigs are unaffected.

Swine flu viruses in the past have caused widespread illness but low death rates among pigs. Before the recent outbreak in North America, human infections had only been "occasionally reported", according to a document released by the World Health Organization (WHO).

On Saturday, the WHO called the outbreak "a public health emergency of international concern". The organization said that properly handled and prepared pork posed no danger.

Xie Chuanjiao and Lan Tian contributed to the story

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