Tainted Meat? That's No Reason to Cut Back for Many Brazilians
- Brazil’s meat exports tumble, but domestic demand stays strong
- Beef sales took biggest hit, already showing signs of rebound
A customer buys meat from a butcher inside a market in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Saturday, March 18, 2017.
Photographer: Victor Moriyama/BloombergTainted meat may be cause for alarm in most of the world, but Brazilians’ appetite for beef is still going strong.
Just over a week after federal authorities accused at least 20 meatpackers of bribing government inspectors to approve the sale of contaminated or spoiled beef and chicken, many Brazilians appear to be gobbling up their steaks just as fast as before. Some may have never slowed down to begin with. In a nation that produces 20 percent of the world’s red-meat exports and 40 percent of its chicken, eating meat and especially beef is practically a part of the national DNA. For most, Brazil’s low-cost beef is a staple of lunch and dinner.