The claim: Smithfield Foods was recently sold to China with unanimous support of its stockholders. The hogs will be slaughtered and processed in China before being shipped back to the U.S.

Smithfield Foods, an American meat-processing company, faces criticism in a claim shared by Facebook users saying hogs will be raised in the U.S. and sent to China to be slaughtered and packaged before coming back here. The post also says Smithfield Foods was recently sold to China.

The March 21 Facebook post also urges people to refrain from buying food products such as Starkist Tuna, Green Giant frozen vegetables and grocery store garlic unless it is clearly marked from the USA or Canada.

The post, which has been shared over 256,000 times as of April 14, is headlined with “read this before buying meat.”

“The hogs will still be raised here, but slaughtered and packaged for sale there before being sent back there,” the post reads. “The same with many chickens. They can now be shipped there, but when they come back all that needs to be labeled is that they WERE RAISED IN THE USA.”

Other specific claims in the post included that fish on fish farms are fed raw sewage and raised in filthy conditions where food colorings and some flavorings are added and then sent to Canada and the U.S. “They ship it to you to buy and poison your families and friends,” the post alleges.

A message to the Facebook user who shared the information was not returned.

The post also urges people to stay away from packages stating “prepared for,” “packaged by” or “imported by” and suggests that other food products like fruit cups, Steinfeld’s Pickles and canned mushrooms are not safe.

Hong Kong firm acquires Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods is a Virginia-based company and is the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer; it produces a variety of brand name meats and partnered with a Chinese company long before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2013, shareholders of Smithfield Foods voted to approve a partnership with Shuanghui International Holdings Limited, a private company based in Hong Kong that holds a majority of shares in China’s largest meat processor, Henan Shuanghui Investment & Development Co. Ltd.

Forbes magazine reported that a growing demand due to large populations, rising production costs and repeated concerns about quality “formed the basis of Shuanghui International’s quest to acquire the North American meat producer.”

Forbes also reported the Chinese acquisition of Smithfield does not mean that Americans will be eating Chinese cuts. “Shuanghui isn’t looking to offload Chinese pork in Los Angeles. What it wants is to become the leading player in China.”

Smithfield’s website further states that “Smithfield has not, does not, and will not import any products from China to the United States. No Smithfield products come from animals raised, processed or packaged in China.”

Smithfield Foods closes pork plant after spike in COVID-19 cases

Social media users continued to reshare the false claim following the closure of Smithfield Foods’ South Dakota processing plant after employees experienced an increase in coronavirus cases.

The company announced on Sunday in a news release that their Sioux Falls facility, which accounts for four to five percent of U.S. pork production, will remain closed until further notice after 238 Smithfield employees accounted for about half of Minnehaha County’s 438 COVID-19 cases.

“The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply,” said President and CEO Kenneth Sullivan in the news release.

A day before the announcement, Gov. Kristi Noem and Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken urged Smithfield Foods in a letter to cease operations for two weeks to clean the facility and have employees recover from any illness.

Smithfield Foods not importing meat from China

Smithfield Foods and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration deny the claims in the post about the processing of the animals and the products listed as unsafe.

Jenna Wollin, a spokeswoman for Smithfield Foods, said in an email to USA TODAY that claims about China slaughtering and processing hogs and shipping them back to the U.S. is “absolutely false.”

Wollin said all U.S. products from Smithfield are made in one of its 50 facilities across America and that all of its products are produced in compliance with the standards and regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Monique Richards, a spokeswoman for the FDA, said in an email to USA TODAY that the items listed in the claims — such as Starkist Tuna, Green Giant frozen vegetables and garlic — are safe.

“Currently there is no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with transmission of COVID-19,” Richards said. “Unlike gastrointestinal (GI) viruses like norovirus and hepatitis A that often make people ill through contaminated food, SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, is a virus that causes respiratory illness. Foodborne exposure to this virus is not known to be a route of transmission.”

Richards said all products regulated by the FDA must meet the same requirements whether they are produced domestically or imported from abroad and that the FDA works with state and industry partners to issue public notices about products that present risks to consumers.

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service regulates aspects of the safety and labeling of traditional (non-game) meats, poultry, and certain egg products,” she said.

Our ruling: False

The post claiming Smithfield's hogs are raised in the United States and sent to China for processing and slaughtering before being returned here is rated FALSE. There is no evidence proving this claim, and officials contacted denied the information in the post; it is, therefore, not supported by our research. Smithfield Farms partnered with WH Group in 2013 and was not “recently” sold to China. The FDA confirmed products such as Starkist Tuna, Green Giant vegetables and garlic are indeed safe.

Our fact-check sources:

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