More than 40,000 U.S. team members have made Smithfield Foods one of the world’s leading protein companies, serving an essential role in our nation’s food security. Taylor Hunt’s Jan. 12 opinion piece for the Washington Examiner is an attempt to politicize our company. These are the facts:

In 2013, a Hong Kong-based company, WH Group, acquired Smithfield Foods. WH Group is a publicly traded company, owned by investors from all over the world, including those in the United States. It is not owned by the Chinese government. Smithfield is run by a U.S. management team from the same headquarters in Virginia where it was founded in 1936. The company and its employees pay federal and state taxes and comply with regulations established by multiple U.S. government agencies.