Survey results released by the U.S. Meat Export Federation reveal that nearly two-thirds of China's consumers stopped eating pork in the early stages of the H1N1 influenza outbreak. And today more than one in five consumers in the world's largest pork market still believe that eating pork can result in catching the flu virus. The views of 1,200 Chinese consumers were taken during the survey.
Speaking to the Fifth International Meat Secretariat World Conference in Qingdao, China, Joel Haggard, senior vice president Asia-Pacific for USMEF, told the more than 600 global pork industry executives in attendance that the research suggests initial Chinese consumer reaction to H1N1 was sharp, and that a significant number of consumers may still associate the virus with pork and hogs.
Haggard also delivered to the conference an overview of the U.S. pork industry's development over the last 20 years, with the message that U.S. pork producers – contrary to many assumptions by those in overseas markets – do not receive substantial subsidies from the U.S. government.
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