随着全国各地的肉类加工厂为应对冠状病毒大流行而关闭，美国消费者对肉类供应的担忧继续增加。周日，泰森食品公司(Tyson Foods)发布的一则广告加剧了这种担忧。该公司最近几周关闭了几家工厂，因为工人的COVID-19检测呈阳性。董事长约翰·泰森(John Tyson)在广告中表示，“食品供应链正在断裂。”
但行业专家表示，供应链的最初问题不会是永久性的，这些问题对消费者的任何影响都不会是毁灭性的。
“总的来说，毫无疑问，你可能会看到一些短缺，”美国肉类加工者协会执行主任克里斯·扬告诉记者新闻周刊。“人们可能会去杂货店，但他们可能没有想要的准确的蛋白质。但总的来说，消费者将会有足够的肉类。”
迈阿密总统超市的员工，像美国其他杂货店的员工一样，站在冠状病毒大流行的第一线，帮助国家居民维持食物供应。尽管随着全国各地的肉类加工厂宣布暂时关闭，人们越来越担心，但行业专家表示，消费者不会丧失购买肉类产品的能力。
4月中旬，随着南达科他州苏福尔斯的一家史密斯菲尔德食品厂在数百名员工的COVID-19检测呈阳性后关闭，这种担忧加剧。自那以后，工厂一直在关闭，泰森食品公司上周宣布关闭几家工厂——包括该国最大的猪肉加工厂。
本月早些时候，北美肉类协会的发言人讲述新闻周刊尽管由于工厂暂时关闭导致生产水平下降，但冷库中仍有大量肉类供应消费者。杨回应了这一说法，并补充说，当这种流行病首次在美国蔓延时，肉类采购的突然增加也导致了杂货店的短缺
“一开始，我们对恐慌性购买有点措手不及，”杨说。“我认为供应链已经赶上了。”
周日，疾病控制和预防中心发布了针对肉类加工工人的新指导方针，举例说明了在员工通常在近距离工作的工厂进行社交疏远的方法。一些新的指导方针——包括佩戴面部遮盖物、错开休息时间以及在工作空间之间实施分隔——已经在关闭的工厂中使用。
“部分挑战在于疾病预防控制中心的指导方针发生了变化，”杨说，他特别提到了关于面部遮盖物的建议。"大多数肉类加工厂立即开始实施疾病预防控制中心的指导方针."
尽管企业关闭设施引发了信息传递和警报方面的变化，但行业专家表示，美国消费者不会丧失购买肉类的能力。美国农业部在其网站上表示，虽然当地市场可能会出现短暂的短缺，但供应会从餐馆、学校和其他不再需要它们的地方转移过来，“目前还没有供应链普遍中断的报道。”
由于肉类加工厂工人的工作地点非常接近，而且一些病毒携带者没有症状，杨说，植物在某个时候不可避免地会遇到病毒。尽管如此，他说，在大流行开始之前，日常的卫生措施已经保证了肉制品对消费者的安全，并且为员工实施安全预防措施的努力是一个不断发展的过程。
“毫无疑问，将会有一些短缺，而且可能会有一些价格上涨，”杨谈到对消费者的影响时说。“但总的来说，人们仍然能够找到足够的肉类和家禽来照顾家人。”
INDUSTRY EXPERTS SAY MEAT 'SUPPLY CHAIN IS GOOD' FOLLOWING WARNING FROM TYSON FOODS THAT IT IS 'BREAKING'
As meat processing plants around the country close in response to the coronavirus pandemic, concern among American consumers about the availability of meat continues to grow. That concern was fueled on Sunday by an advertisement published by Tyson Foods—which has closed several plants in recent weeks as workers tested positive for COVID-19—in which Chairman John Tyson said that "the food supply chain is breaking."
But industry experts have said that initial issues with the supply chain will not be permanent and said any impacts those issues may have on consumers will not be devastating.
"Overall, there's no doubt that you're probably going to see some shortages," Executive Director of the American Association of Meat Processors Chris Young told Newsweek. "People may get to the grocery store and they may not have the exact cut of protein they want. But overall, there's going to be enough meat for the consumer."
The employees at Presidente Supermarket in Miami, like the rest of America's grocery store workers, are on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, helping to keep the nation's residents fed. Despite growing concerns as meat processing plants across the country announce temporary closures, industry experts say consumers will not lose the ability to purchase meat products.
Concern spiked in mid-April as a Smithfield Foods facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, closed after hundreds of employees tested positive for COVID-19. Plants have continued to close since, with Tyson Foods announcing closures of several plants—including its largest pork facility in the country—last week.
Earlier this month, a spokesperson for the North American Meat Institute told Newsweekthere was plenty of meat in cold storage to feed consumers despite reductions in production levels that have resulted from temporary plant closures. Young echoed this statement, adding that sudden increases in meat purchases also contributed to shortages at grocery stores when the pandemic first began to spread in the U.S.
"We were caught off guard a bit by the panic buying at the beginning," Young said. "I think the supply chain has caught up."
On Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for meat processing workers with examples of ways to practice social distancing at plants where employees typically work in close quarters. Some of the new guidelines—including wearing facial coverings, staggering break times and implementing dividers between work spaces—were already in use at plants that shut down.
"Part of the challenge has been the CDC guidelines changed," Young said, pointing specifically to recommendations regarding facial coverings. "Most of the meat industry plants started right away with implementing the CDC's guidelines."
Regardless of the shifts in messaging and alarms raised by companies closing facilities, industry experts say American consumers will not lose their ability to purchase meat. On its website, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that while there might be brief shortages at local markets while supplies are redirected from restaurants, schools and other places where they're no longer needed, "there are currently no widespread disruptions reported in the supply chain."
Due to the close proximity in which meat processing plant workers operate and the fact that some virus carriers are asymptomatic, Young said it was inevitable that plants would encounter the virus at some point. Even so, he said daily sanitation practices in place before the pandemic began have kept meat products safe for consumers, and efforts to implement safety precautions for employees was an evolving process.
"There's no doubt there are going to be some shortages, and there may be some price increasing going on," Young said of the impact on consumers. "But overall, people will still be able to find enough meat and poultry to take care of their families."
