Wal-Mart withdraws donkey meat in China
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
didn’t properly inspect products it purchased, leading to fox DNA being found in meat sold as donkey, China National Radio reported Monday, citing the provincial food regulator.
The Shandong Food and Drug Administration told Wal-Mart to compensate the people affected and establish a DNA-testing system for food as quickly as possible, the broadcaster said, citing meetings between executives and the agency.
Wal-Mart said in a statement Thursday that it withdrew all products made by Dezhou Fujude Food Co. after finding fox DNA in the supplier’s products. The retailer is adding DNA tests of meat it sells in China and will compensate customers who bought the affected meat. The Shandong food regulator told retailers Dec. 29 to stop selling a donkey meat product made by the food company because of the fox DNA.
- Bloomberg News
Region sees positive ’13 economic growth
Central Arkansas saw positive economic growth last year according to a report by Metroplan, the long-range transportation planning agency for the region.
Released twice a year, Metroplan’s 2013 Economic Review and Outlook report records economic and development trends for the Little Rock-North Little Rock metropolitan statistical area.
A news release from Metroplan said employment in central Arkansas continues to grow slower than the national average but is increasing faster than the state average.
Metroplan reported a drop in employment in the region’s information sector, the result of layoffs in the telecommunications industry.
Housing construction increased in the first half of 2013, with construction growing fastest in Cabot and Benton, according to the news release.
- Jessica Seaman
Cautious investors
deflate index 2.61
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 2.61 to 331.63 on Monday.
“The financial market’s lackluster start to the new year continued as investors responded cautiously to a mixed bag of economic reports,” said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock. “With 15 issues declining and only two issues advancing, Arkansas stocks failed to match the broad market returns.”
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 23 on 01/07/2014