Piggy-backing on NZ pork
21 June 2006
NEW ZEALAND - The New Zealand Pork Board claims foreign imports are flooding our market, partly because they're produced cheaply through the use of growth hormones.
Local pig farmers have a voluntary ban on using the hormones but say they're being squeezed by the imports.
And most consumers can't tell the difference because there's no country of origin labels on the imported meat.
"Forty percent of our total consumption now is imported," says Chris Trengrove from the pork board.
On average New Zealanders eat about 21 kilograms of the meat each year.
Last year almost 45% of pork imports were from Australia, 27% from Canada, 18% from America, 9% from Sweden and the rest from China, Thailand and others.
The Australian Pork Board estimates up to a quarter of its pig farmers use a synthetic growth hormone called porcine somatotropin or PST which is injected, usually in the pig's neck, in the last month of its life to accelerate the animal's growth while decreasing the amount of feed it needs.
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Source: TVNZ
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