Agriculture chief to public: U.S. pork products are safe

WASHINGTON -- Federal officials moved Tuesday to bolster the $15 billion U.S. pork industry and reassure consumers that eating pork is safe amid the swine-flu outbreak.

The effort comes after countries such as Russia, China and Ukraine began banning pork products that come from some U.S. states. The bans led to lower prices of pork, as well as for soybeans and corn, used as hog feed.

"The livelihoods of a lot of people are at stake here," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, referring to the country's 67,000 pork producers as well as soybean and corn farmers. "It is perfectly safe to consume pork and pork products from America."

Vilsack said people should stop using the term "swine flu" and should call the disease H1N1 virus, which refers to the subtype of influenza virus causing the outbreak. "This really isn't swine flu," Vilsack said.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said he will talk to officials in countries that are restricting U.S. pork products. "That could do extraordinary damage" to the U.S. economy and other countries, he said.

Russia and China are two of the biggest importers of U.S. pork products, National Pork Producers Council spokesman Dave Warner said. The two countries are barring pork imports from 12 states but are still accepting them from Iowa, Minnesota and North Carolina, Warner said. Those states can meet the demand for pork in countries that are restricting imports, he said.

Domestic pork demand is stable, "but it's only been two days" since the outbreak became major news, Warner said.