Smithfield to cut additive to boost exports to China

Shuanghui to keep US firm's brand and management unchanged, factories open

Smithfield Foods Inc, the world's largest hog producer, said it will reduce the use of a feed additive that makes pork leaner as it seeks to win more business in China.

The United States-based company, acquired by Hong Kong-based Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd in a $4.7 billion deal last month, has the capacity to ship "large quantities" of ractopamine-free pork to China, Chief Executive Officer C. Larry Pope said in an interview on Wednesday in Hong Kong. China bans the use of the additive.