Societal Concerns about Pork and Pork Production and Their Relationships to the Production System

Pork producers in Western Europe moreand more encounter a variety of societalconcerns about pork and pork production. Sofar, however, producers predominantly focusedon low consumer prices, therewith addressingjust one concern. This resulted in an intensiveand large-scale production system, decreasinglyrelated to the area of farm land, andaccompanied with increasing concerns aboutsafety and healthiness of pork, animal welfare,environmental pollution, and others.An overview was given of possible concernsabout West-European pork production with theconsumers, citizens, and producers, and thoseconcerns are traced back to the pork productionsystem. The various kinds and qualities ofinformation about the pork production system onwhich possible concerns are based have beenworked out extensively in this paper. Knowledgeabout the aspects of pork production that cangive rise to concerns can be used in two ways.First, the communication about those aspectstowards consumers and citizens can be adjustedor extended to give them better possibilitiesto make food choices or to develop their ownopinions about pork production. Second,producers could change the pork productionsystem such that it better satisfies consumersand citizens. Such adaptations are wellpossible, as three pork quality schemes, whichhave been evaluated, illustrate. However, mostof these adaptations can only be carried out atthe cost of the present low consumer prices andwill not occur spontaneously on a large scale.Therefore, accounting for the type andrelevance of the concerns, legislation isnecessary to address societal concerns in abalanced way such that pork production systemsbecome acceptable for the majority of oursociety.     

An empirical analysis on the impact of environmental regulations on pork trade:evidence from China

This paper uses the gravity model to examine the effect of environmental regulations on pork trade flows between different regions within China.We apply a linear programming tool to estimate pork trade flows from 2000 to 2008,and discuss the environmental acts on livestock pollution and income level to proxy environmental regulations.We use OLS regression and panel data with dummy variable in the cross-sectional GLS estimation.Our results indicate that the gap of environmental regulations between trade partners has a positive relationship with pork trade flows,and the difference in environmental regulations changes the traditional comparative advantage pattern to some extent.This paper provides convincing evidence for the pollution haven effect on livestock in China.     

Metagenomic assessment of the microbial diversity in ground pork products from markets in the North Central Region of South Korea

The purpose of this study was to characterize the microbial community in ground pork using molecular approaches. Forty six ground pork products were purchased from local stores in the north central area of South Korea. Aerobic plate counts varied 4.23 ± 5.14 × 10⁵ CFU/g with the range between 5.00 × 10³ and 1.85 × 10⁶ CFU/g for ground pork samples. Four ground meat samples were further processed for metagenomic analysis. Pseudomonas species was the most relative abundant with a wide range occurring (1.72 to 77.7%) as part of the microbial genera in ground pork. Bacteria such as Carnobacterium, Yersinia, Photobacterium were also identified in ground pork. Despite the prominence of certain genera across all samples there was still extensive microbial diversity among ground pork products that originated from different slaughter houses and were processed in different markets. Such diversity indicates that designing interventions to extend shelf life may be hampered by the extensive variability in the microbial consortia associated with pork products. However, this diversity may be useful for developing microbial traceability signatures unique to a slaughter house or a particular market.     

Science, Pigs, and Politics: A New Zealand Perspective on the Phase-Out of Sow Stalls

Sows housed in stalls are kept insuch extreme confinement that they are unableto turn around. In some sectors of the porkindustry, sows are subjected to this degree ofconfinement for almost their entire lives(apart from the brief periods associated withmating). While individual confinement isrecognized by farmers and animal welfarecommunity organizations alike, as a valuabletool in sow husbandry (to mitigate againstaggression), what remains questionable from ananimal welfare point of view is the necessityto confine sows in such small spaces.In 2001, the Australian Journal ofAgricultural Research published a reviewarticle on the science associated with the useof the sow stall, and claimed that ``noscientific evidence to support therecommendation in the Code of Practice advisingagainst housing of sows in stalls followed byhousing in crates' (Barnett et al., 2001, p. 21).If all the available scientific publications onthe animal welfare implications of sow stallsare consulted (many of which did not feature inthe above review), then one will indeed findscientific evidence to support recommendationsagainst the housing of sows in stalls. Becausethere is science on both sides of this policydivide, the argument to defend the use of sowstalls, therefore, is not one of science vspublic opinion, but one of ethics.An analysis of the scientific argumentsagainst the use of the sow stall should be usedto encourage ethical debate on this issue. Asan ethical debate, the issue of the use of thesow stall can then focus on the degree ofsuffering we as a society are willing totolerate in agricultural practices, and theanimal welfare costs associated with extremeeconomies of scale in sow stocking rates,rather than get bogged down in red herringdebates over whether there is any suffering atall.     

Analysis of TCDD and TCDF on the ppq-level in milk and food sources

Analysis of 2378-TCDD and 2378-TCDF on the ppq-level in foods with high fat content is described. The migration over twelve days of 2378-TCDD, 2378-TCDF and 1278-TCDF from bleached paperboard cartons into whole milk was found to be exponential with time. A survey of selected fatty foods shows the presence of 2378-TCDD and 2378-TCDF in foodstuff.     

2000—2019年全球猪肉贸易格局演变及其对中国的启示——基于复杂贸易网络分析视角

基于2000—2019年全球猪肉贸易数据,采用复杂网络分析方法,研究了全球猪肉贸易网络格局演变及中国猪肉贸易网络特征,并进一步探讨了中国扩大猪肉进口的潜在贸易伙伴选择问题。研究结果表明：过去近20年来,全球猪肉贸易网络核心国相对固定,猪肉贸易网络呈“碎片化”特征。目前中国已经成为全球第一大猪肉进口国,且进口呈现北美、西欧、南美“三足鼎立”的来源格局。未来中国扩大猪肉进口,潜在的贸易伙伴可选范围比较广泛。一方面可以继续巩固和深化同德国、西班牙、美国、巴西等传统贸易伙伴之间的合作关系,另一方面也可以积极拓展朋友圈,增加从意大利、比利时等其他出口国及泰国、越南等周边国家的进口,以打造更加多元高效的猪肉进口网络。     

基于消费者对产地信息属性偏好的可追溯猪肉供给侧改革研究

基于目前市场上可追溯食品品种单一且存在明显结构性失调的现实特征,本文以可追溯猪肉为案例,运用真实选择实验与Logit模型相结合的研究方法,在对可追溯猪肉设置可追溯信息、可追溯信息真实性认证与价格属性的基础上,将产地信息属性纳入可追溯信息属性体系,研究消费者对产地标签的认知与产地属性支付意愿,以及影响消费者对加贴产地标签的可追溯猪肉购买选择的主要因素。研究发现,在构成可追溯猪肉的不同类别的信息属性及其层次中,消费者对可追溯信息真实性政府认证属性的支付意愿最高,其次是对高层次可追溯信息属性的支付意愿,而且相对于外地产标签信息属性,消费者更偏好于具有本地产标签的可追溯猪肉。同时消费者对产地标签的认知与家庭收入状况,显著影响其对加贴产地信息属性标签的可追溯猪肉的购买选择。本文研究的政策含义是,现有可追溯猪肉所包含的安全信息属性残缺不全,并不具备事前预警功能,品种存在着明显的结构性失调,应从供给侧结构性改革的角度,鼓励生产者生产多信息属性的多品种可追溯猪肉,同时充分发挥市场的决定性作用,丰富市场以满足不同的消费需求;与普通猪肉相比较,可追溯猪肉的市场价格上扬,可通过实施精准减税等政策引导可追溯猪肉的生产,以降低可追溯猪肉的市场价格,扩大可追溯猪肉的市场容量;在稳定生猪养殖等支持政策的同时,逐步推行产地政策,为生产者和消费者建立信任关系,提供猪肉安全信息甄别机制。     

An empirical analysis on the impact of environmental regulations on pork trade: evidence from China

This paper uses the gravity model to examine the effect of environmental regulations on pork trade flows between different regions within China. We apply a linear programming tool to estimate pork trade flows from 2000 to 2008, and discuss the environmental acts on livestock pollution and income level to proxy environmental regulations. We use OLS regression and panel data with dummy variable in the cross-sectional GLS estimation. Our results indicate that the gap of environmental regulations between trade partners has a positive relationship with pork trade flows, and the difference in environmental regulations changes the traditional comparative advantage pattern to some extent. This paper provides convincing evidence for the pollution haven effect on livestock in China.     

The effect of consumption of pork enriched by organic selenium on selenium status and lipid profile in blood serum of consumers

Abstract

The aim of the research was to evaluate the effect of consumption of selenium-enriched pork on selected health indicators of probands. The intake of feed mixture with increased organic selenium at the dose of 0.3?mg.kg^?1 probably increases selenium concentration in MSM (musculus semimembranosus). In the pork enriched with organic selenium, the concentration was higher by 1.045?±?0.10?mg.kg^?1 compared with the control group 0.701?±?0.05?mg.kg^?1 at significance P?<?0.001. Sixteen participants in the experiment were represented by 8 men at the average age of 41.5?±?11.9?years and 8 women at the average age of 41.4?±?7.9?years. All the probands consumed meat enriched with selenium three times a week during one month. By consumption of the enriched pork, there was an increase of the selenium concentration in blood serum of probands traced with selenium increase from 73.19?±?15.68?μg.L^?1 to 73.73?±?15.13?μg.L^?1 (P?>?0.05). From the results we can see that consumption of enriched pork with selenium was significantly manifested in lowering of total cholesterol levels, which was associated with LDL cholesterol lowering (P?<?0.05). Differences among the HDL cholesterol and triglycerides samples were not significant.     

Is pork trade good for China's greenhouse gas emissions?

China produces the largest amount of pork in the world, which emits the largest amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs). This paper calculates GHG emissions from China’s hog production at the provincial level using newly published emission factors. Empirical results show that GHG emissions from China’s hog production mainly respond to the scale intensity. Capital abundance and income contribute positively to GHG emissions from hog production. Pork trade increases GHG emissions from China’s hog production with a significantly direct effect, reduces GHG emissions through indirect technique effects.