LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- China has banned beef imports from JBS's Swift Beef Company plant in Greeley, Colorado, effective on May 27, 2024, after U.S. officials found traces of the feed additive ractopamine in meat from the plant set for export to China, according to information from USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

China also blocked meat and poultry imports from the Cool Port Oakland in Oakland, California. The cold storage facility is used for holding perishables including food and medicine.

JBS did not respond to DTN's request for comment at press time.

According to the USDA-FSIS website, https://www.fsis.usda.gov/…, the Greeley, Colorado, plant is the only JBS plant involved in the ban.

On March 26, 2024, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety and Food Animal Concerns Trust sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to force a response to the groups' 2012 petition for a rulemaking on the use of ractopamine in farm animals.

The feed additive is designed to boost growth rates in pigs, cows and turkeys.

Ractopamine is a banned or restricted in meat production in at least 160 countries including China and all countries in the European Union.

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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