LITTLE ROCK — Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale said Tuesday that it is seeking to resolve a temporary ban on frozen boneless pork shipments to Russia after laboratory tests found listeria in the meat.
Gary Mickelson, a Tyson spokesman, said in a statement that, to the company’s knowledge, the shipment ban involves only one Tyson plant, in Waterloo, Iowa.
“We’re looking into the claims by Russian officials and will work diligently to quickly resolve this matter,” Mickelson said. “Providing safe, high-quality pork is extremely important to our business.”
Four other Tyson pork operations continue to have authorization to supply Russian customers, he said.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, listeriosis is a serious infection most often caused by consuming food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. Older adults, newborns, pregnant women and adults with weakened immune systems are moresusceptible to the infection, according to the CDC.
In its 2011 Fiscal Facts Book, Tyson reported $1 billion in international pork sales, of which 8 percent went to Russia. Japan was the biggest export market for Tyson pork in 2011, accounting for 35 percent of sales, followed by Mexico at22 percent.
Timothy Ramey, senior vice president and senior research analyst with D.A. Davidson & Co., based in Great Falls, Mont., said occurrences such as the listeria at the Waterloo plant are “relatively common.”
“That’s why these companies want to be judged on a plant-by-plant basis,” he said. “And they have the flexibility to shift production to other plants. It isn’t something thatrises to the level of concern for investors.”
Russia also placed a ban on imports from a Triumph Foods LLC plant in St. Joseph, Mo., after tests detected tetracycline and chlortetracycline in pork shipped from the plant.
Tyson’s stock closed Tuesday at $15.89 a share, up 23 cents or 1.47 percent. The stock has traded between $14.07 and $21.06 in the past year.
Business, Pages 25 on 09/05/2012