The truth about pork

The consumption of pork has been stigmatized to the extent that the misinformation generated by popular wisdom recommends avoiding its intake. However, scientific evidence indicates that this ignorance causes us to miss out on an excellent nutritional source of animal origin.

According to Juan Pedro Camou Arriola, a research professor at the Food and Development Research Centre (CIAD), an expert in the study of meat products, there are deep-rooted myths about the hygiene of pig breeding and that their meat transmits certain diseases.

There is a popular belief that the ingestion of pork causes, for example, trichinosis, a disease produced by the microorganism Trichinella spiralis, which invades muscle tissues and causes severe diarrhea and muscle pain, among other symptoms; however, this is minimally likely to occur, explained the researcher.

Currently, the pigs raised in Sonora's pig farms, he said, are produced with high safety standards and under strict surveillance by health authorities throughout their production chain to avoid any type of contamination that affects consumers.

"In the 1960s, pork was raised to produce 50 percent meat and 50 percent fat, which was used as lard for cooking; today pork produces 75 percent protein, that is, lean meat and 25 percent fat, which is for covering (wrapping the pig's body), also greatly reducing the muscle marbling fat, said the meat expert.

The researcher explained that there are indications that human beings began to eat pork more than five thousand years ago and that at present it is the most consumed meat at a worldwide level, mainly in the Asian continent.

"We should not fear eating pork, it is an excellent nutritional option; in a steak about 20% is protein, its meat has less than 10% fat and is a rich source of the B complex, iron, phosphorus, and magnesium," concluded Camou Arriola.