Three-day suspension of live pig supplies unlikely to affect Hongkongers over Lunar New Year holiday

Pigs may be taking centre stage this Lunar New Year, but some people in Hong Kong are steering clear of pork dishes during the festivities for the Year of the Pig amid rising concerns about African swine fever and a three-day suspension of sales of the meat in the city.

Hong Kong’s pork industry confirmed last week it would halt the supply of live pigs in the city over the first three days of the Lunar New Year period to ­conduct ­thorough cleansing ­operations after nearly 1 million pigs were slaughtered in mainland China with the aim of getting the disease under control.

Closer to home, shoppers were unperturbed by the suspension of live pigs.

“It does not really matter, Lunar New Year is more about live chickens anyway, pork is just the side dish and it will not affect our mood to celebrate,” said a woman surnamed Liu.

For others, beloved Cantonese dishes such as roast suckling pig and barbecue pork would still be part of this year’s festivities.

“There is always frozen pork. Actually, our family has made the alteration recently since the outbreak of swine flu on the mainland because we are afraid live pigs might carry the virus,” said another woman, surnamed Ng.

“We don’t mind the suspension, it’s good the industry is taking the effort to thoroughly cleanse the slaughterhouses to ensure hygiene and safety of the livestock.”

According to an industry representative, the decision to clear out the city’s slaughterhouses during the new year was made after careful consideration and it was believed the impact on the public would be minimal.

Swine fever fears spark call to halt live pigs supply for Lunar New Year

“We have specifically picked these days to conduct ­thorough cleansing at three of the city’s slaughterhouses as the demand for fresh pork during this period is significantly lower than usual,” Chan Kin-yip, the chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Agriculture Association said.

“Most pork stalls at wet markets are closed ... they will not be selling anyway and families are very likely to go out for dinner, where most restaurants rely on the supply of frozen meat.”

Chan revealed that normally up to 4,000 live pigs are slaughtered daily at the city’s two main slaughterhouses – in Sheung Shui and Tsuen Wan.

Meanwhile around 20 are culled every day at another smaller slaughterhouse located in Cheung Chau.

Hong Kong to strengthen swine fever defences after pressure from farmers

“Swine fever is highly contagious and can spread rapidly through infected pigs, especially their faeces, and we can only conduct a disinfection and cleansing operation when the slaughterhouses are completely empty so we want to make sure when we come back on Friday, the places are 100 per cent virus free,” he explained.

Despite the shortage of pigs, pork prices are believed to remain unchanged and restaurant businesses should be unaffected.

A man surnamed Mak, a meat cutter working at a wet market fresh meat stall, said he still had no plans to stock up because it would not be open for business over the Lunar New Year.

He also said customers had not been stocking up on fresh pork either, due to changes in the way people celebrate Lunar New Year.

Hong Kong pork prices likely to rise as swine fever hits mainland supplies

“Families usually go out to eat now or they go on holiday to celebrate so there’s less demand for the supply of live pigs. The culture is slightly different now,” he said.

Chan Chi-ying, owner of Ying Kee Old Buddies, a restaurant in Wong Tai Sin, said he would not be opening during the three days.

A chef for over 40 years, he said restaurants open for business on those days would usually stock up on pork in advance.

Additional reporting by Kanis Leung