Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — McDonald’s Corp. will require suppliers to improve the living conditions and slaughter process for chickens raised to be served in its restaurants, the company said on Friday, the latest changes affecting popular menu items such as McNuggets. Under new guidelines for animal welfare, suppliers such as Tyson Foods and Cargill must […] Read more
McDonald’s sets new welfare standards for chicken suppliers
USDA plan to axe livestock pricing rule divides producers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a filing on Tuesday said it will dismantle Obama-era rules for buying and selling livestock, a move that has divided the U.S. meat industry. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue withdrew an interim final rule and a proposed regulation of the Farmer Fair Practices Rules […] Read more
Tyson to test new method to stun chickens
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Tyson Foods will test a new way to render chickens unconscious before slaughter, the company said Wednesday, in the latest sign that heightened concerns about animal welfare are affecting U.S. meat processors. Within the next year, Tyson, the biggest U.S. chicken company, will launch a pilot program at two processing plants […] Read more
U.S. beef speeds to China by air as ban ends
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– The first shipment of U.S. beef to China under a new trade deal went airborne on Wednesday, a Nebraska meat company said, just two days after Washington finalized details to resume exports, ending a 14-year ban. Greater Omaha Packing Co. said it shipped beef by plane to China from Nebraska, a […] Read more
Bird flu found in Tennessee chicken flock
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — A strain of bird flu has been detected in a chicken breeder flock on a Tennessee farm contracted to U.S. food giant Tyson Foods, and the 73,500 birds will be culled to stop the virus from entering the food system, government and company officials said on Sunday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said […] Read more
Tyson reveals subpoena linked to alleged price fixing
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Tyson Foods disclosed on Monday it has received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission following allegations it conspired with rivals for years to fix chicken prices. The chicken sector, which is dominated by a handful of large meat companies, has come under increased scrutiny over the past year as customers […] Read more
Millions of chickens reported dead in Hurricane Matthew floods
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Flooding from Hurricane Matthew has killed up to five million poultry birds in North Carolina, most of them chickens, the state’s top environmental official said Wednesday. Donald van der Vaart, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, also told Reuters that some pits that hold hog waste on farms […] Read more
Slumping U.S. meat prices help feed appetite for jerky
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — With prices for U.S. livestock on the decline due to larger cattle and hog herds, meat processors are jumping on the jerky bandwagon. In recent years, dried-meat snacks have gained popularity as Americans embrace diets packed with protein and less sugar and fat. Jerky has overcome its image as a highly […] Read more
Cargill stops using human antibiotic against disease in turkeys
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. meat processor Cargill has stopped using an important antibiotic for people to prevent disease in turkeys, the company said Tuesday, the latest food maker to drop the drug amid concerns about the impact on human medicine. Cargill has not used the drug, gentamicin, to prevent disease in turkeys that supply […] Read more
China to resume imports from U.S. pork plants
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — China, the world’s largest pork consumer, will soon resume imports from 14 U.S. pork plants and warehouses, after halting some shipments last year over the use of a feed additive, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday. USDA did not provide a date on which China will resume the imports. China’s […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
