While the media is transfixed with the final figure of floating dead pigs found Shanghai's Huangpu River, which at last check was crossing 6000 [5], a bigger problem has emerged: pig carcasses have now been spotted in a different river, which means that the worst case scenario could be in play. From Shanghai Daily [6]: 'Pig carcasses now found in Hubei river: Around 50 pig carcasses were today discovered in a tributary of the Yangtze River in Yichang City, Hubei Province, China Central Television reported. Some of the bodies were highly decomposed, said the report. The carcasses were spotted floating near Wulong Village. The local government has launched an investigation and dispatched officials to the scene. The news has attracted much public attention as it follows the discovery of thousand of dead pigs in Shanghai's Huangpu River, a branch of the Yangtze. By late yesterday, almost 6,000 pig carcasses had been fished out of the river and an investigation into where they came from is ongoing."
Recall our prediction from yesterday [5]:
The bad news: what happens if China were to uncover that whatever ailments were present in the current batch of "hog wash" has become an epidemic? Just how high will the most important price tag in all of China - pork meat - soar to if quality controls were to be enabled? And what happens to food inflation which in China is actually indicative of reality due to its component as a percentage of CPI being one of the highest in the entire world?
So yesterday one river; today two rivers; tomorrow ... ? And if this is what the media is revealing, one can imagine how big the "hogwash" scandal must be behind the carefully controlled media scenes.
The bigger question remains: just what is really going on with the Chinese pork industry, which in 2011 was responsible for nearly half a billion pigs produced, or more than the entire rest of the world, and is the primary source of food for a vast majority of the population.
[7]
How long until the local population starts demanding real answers.