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'Better' Pork Carries Big Health Risks

Free-range pork may relieve your guilt, but bother your tummy

By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 10, 2009 9:33 AM CDT

(Newser) – Free-range pork sounds better for everyone involved, especially the pig. But exposure to the outdoors means exposure to dangerous pathogens, from salmonella to toxoplasmosis to the deadly parasite trichinosis, writes James McWilliams for the New York Times. "Free range is like piggy day care, a thoughtfully arranged system designed to meet the needs of consumers who despise industrial agriculture and adore the idea of wildness," the anti-locavore author argues.

Balancing humane animal treatment and consumer safety is tricky: "The natural dangers that motivated farmers to bring animals into tightly controlled settings in the first place haven’t gone away," McWilliams explains. Reverting to free-range practices is a choice, and "even if the texture conferred on pork by this choice does lead to improved tenderloin, the enhanced taste must be weighed against the increased health risks."

Workers inject vaccine into a piglet on a pig farm in Suining, in southwest China's Sichuan province, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009.
Workers inject vaccine into a piglet on a pig farm in Suining, in southwest China's Sichuan province, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009.   (AP Photo)
Free-range pigs like these may enjoy their lives, but it might not be entirely safe to eat them: these porkers are more likely to have diseases from parasites to salmonella.
Free-range pigs like these may enjoy their lives, but it might not be entirely safe to eat them: these porkers are more likely to have diseases from parasites to salmonella.   (AP Photo/Amanda Rivkin)
Traditionally farmed pigs have essentially no cases of trichinosis anymore. Among free-range pigs, cases have been found, a deadly problem.
Traditionally farmed pigs have essentially no cases of trichinosis anymore. Among free-range pigs, cases have been found, a deadly problem.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
Addyp
Apr 11, 2009 5:56 AM CDT
QFT
JonmarkP
Apr 10, 2009 5:05 AM CDT
Why not turn them loose at Fox News, with their brothers and sisters?
kati
Apr 10, 2009 2:41 AM CDT
Simple solution: go veg.

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