Schumer: Chicken Slaughtered, Raised In China Could Pose Major Risk

[Jesus Malverde]

Chicken from China has officials on alert, including U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)

As WCBS 880’s Jim Smith reported Sunday, Schumer said first, the U.S. Department of Agriculture only allowed chickens that had been processed in China to be sold in the U.S. Now, he said the USDA plans to green-light poultry raised and slaughtered in China.

This has never happened before, and it is a bad idea, Schumer argued.

“China has a terrible record on health safety, and chickens are one of the things that need the most care and inspections,” he said.

Schumer called the plan a huge change in policy, and a big mistake.

“China has been a massive source of food poisoning here in America for years,” he said.

A step closer to final approval, Schumer said a USDA report to Congress indicated aspects of the Chinese slaughter system to be equivalent to that of the U.S.

“Why is the USDA doing it?” he said. “We just don’t know.”

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/11/10/schumer-chicken-slaughtered-raised-in-china-could-pose-major-risk/

[Mojorabbit]

1. Damn, this is crazy! nt

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. How could this even make sense from a cost perspective?

[Jesus Malverde]

5. Faced with costly environmental, health and safety REGULATIONS at home.

It's a no brainer to offshore, especially when there are no tariffs, and country of origin labeling is not required on processed food.

What we need is FAIR trade not Free trade.

[hollysmom]

3. Just ask your dog.

[Jesus Malverde]

7. +1

[joeybee12]

10. Agreed...and it's an awful memory...+1

[Marrah_G]

4. And it probably won't even have to be labeled as coming from there.

[roody]

6. So glad to be an almost vegetarian.

[gollygee]

8. Because American factory farms don't do it cheaply enough?

I have no idea what corners they'd have to cut that would allow them to do it cheaply enough to pay for the refrigerated/frozen shipping and still make it competitive in the US, and I probably don't want to know.

[Zorra]

9. Another wonderful benefit of basically unregulated free market global capitalism.

Benefits Of Vegetarianism: Vegetarians Live Longer

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/13/benefits-of-vegetarianism_n_112431.html

[Le Taz Hot]

11. Several of our Farmer's Markets here

have locally-grown, free-range chickens that they slaughter and process on the ranch, then bring to market. The ranchers and facilities are inspected regularly by COUNTY inspectors. Yes, you're going to pay $20.00 per chicken but it's a whole lot better to have peace of mind knowing your chicken has been processed cleanly.

When you take a Restaurant Safety Course, the one thing you learn right off is that chickens are filthy little suckers, even when you do everything right. When you store them they have to be stored on the bottom shelf so if their blood happens to leak it's leaking onto the floor and not on other meats/produce. Chickens are more likely to carry botulism and contain e-coli more than any other meat/poultry.

So, yeah, I might pay $20.00 for a chicken but if you do it right, you can get a LOT of meals out of one. For example: Roast the chicken an get at least 4 meals out of that. Save the carcass, clean it (separate the junk from the bones from the meat) and make chicken broth by adding the carcass, water, onions, carrots and celery, then render them down a few hours. From there you can use it to make chicken soup, chicken and dumplings or whatever you choose. That will give you several more meals. That's how you can make a $20.00 chicken pay for itself.

[Doremus]

12. Or

Or you could forgo the $20 chicken and buy veggies instead.

-Save money
-Save your health
-Save the planet

Best deal of all.

[Le Taz Hot]

13. Except I'm not a vegetarian

and have no desire to be. So there's that.

[Doremus]

15. Not saying you had to, just pointing out the many benefits thereof.

You might want to give it some thought for the future. There is literally no downside.

Either way, it's all good.

[haele]

14. Most local/farmer's market chickens are older that corporate chickens when slaughtered.

And are naturally twice the size.

Laz used to work in a chicken processing plant (i.e., slaughter and packing plant) that was owned and operated by the corporation that owned the commercial brand under which the chickens were sold. The chickens that came in were only 7 - 8 months old, that being the age where the skin was not so thick and size was the most "cost effective" for commercial packing. They were also grown per the requirements of the corporation; the farmers were given the feed and any additives, and a company veterinarian came out to check out the birds before they were shipped to the plant.
Your local butchers/farmer's markets and the small IGAs that get their chickens from local sources get full grown birds, that have a good 2 or 3 lbs more meat, in larger thighs, breasts, and drumsticks. These birds are raised by the State Agricultural standards, and the process from farm to farm stand is monitored by the state at a much closer level than is done at a commercial plant. There is no multi-national corporation directing the farmers or the processing facility, so the "bottom line" for the process is determined by the individual farmers, facility, and buyers themselves - and they are much more receptive to customer and market concerns than an interstate or multi-national corporate organization would be.

That $20 chicken can be carved and will feed up to eight people in a sitting, and the carcass is enough for 2 quarts of soup stock if you are inclined to make soup. So you could potentially get at least a couple day's worth of meals for two/three people off one chicken.
A $4 "Tyson's" or "Foster Farm" chicken will only feed 4, and there might be enough carcass left for, oh, a pint?
Two days max, and that's for one, maybe two people, if they aren't big eaters.

Haele