Do Americans care who is makin' their bacon?
The proposed $4.7 billion acquisition of U.S. pork producer Smithfield Foods by China's Shuanghui International may elicit an emotional reaction from Americans but history shows they are unlikely to change their eating habits, food experts said.
"The general public may latch on to this and say they are going to boycott, go vegan, or otherwise," said Teri Gault, chief executive of TheGroceryGame.com, a membership site that tracks grocery sales and coupons.
But American consumers are unlikely to actually do it. "People say a lot more of that than they actually do," she said.
The same questions were asked in 2007 when JBS of Brazil bought the Chicago-based Swift & Company, making JBS Swift Group the largest animal protein processor in the world. The consumers didn't care then because all the same U.S. food regulations stayed in place, said Gary Karp, the executive vice president at Technomic, a food industry research and consulting firm.
"From a consumer stand-point, it's a huge non-event," Karp said of the Smithfield deal. "It will likely not have much of an effect."
When consumers go into a market, they're likely going to focus on what's on sale, which cuts of meat look good and then maybe narrow it down to a few of their favorite brands, Karp said. "But you may or may not even know which are Smithfield brands, since they're also Farmland, they are Armour, and Eckrich, and Carando and they own Gwaltney," Karp said, listing off just some of Smithfield's subsidiaries.
(Read More: China's Grab of US Hogs Stokes Interest on Capitol Hill)
Founded in Smithfield, Va., in 1936 as the Smithfield Packing Company, the firm now dominates the $100 billion U.S. pork industry, according to the estimate from the National Pork Producers Council.
Company officials said the quality of the U.S. pork will not decline.