Comments on: Pork: The Little White Lie

By: marco

marco — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:33:18 +0000

is it true that red meat has higher levels of myoglobin due to grazing? i’ve been told that since pigs don’t eat grass as cows do, their meat is not as red.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:24:38 +0000

Hello, David.

Yeah–it does taste good. But, alas, it is still not so good for you. Not hideously bad, mind you, just not jump up and down good.

Certainly not as good as real white meat.

By: David Smookler

David Smookler — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:17:43 +0000

Thank you for your clarity. I knew that eating red meat about doubles your chances of colon cancer, so I stopped eating beef, and I even knew that it was because of the myoglobin. Stupidly I was fooled by the “other white meat” ads. I should’ve know better: cows and pigs are both mammals, how much ‘other’ could pork be? But it’s just so tasty! I guess I wanted to believe.

David

By: Kaye

Kaye — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:07:32 +0000

Thank you so much!!! I’m constantly amazed that people will take as fact ANYthing that is said in a television commercial! I am so tired of people looking at me as if I am stupid when I explain that pork is (still) red meat. And then they quote that ridiculous commercial tagline. “It’s the OTHER white meat.” UGH!!!

By: Barbara

Barbara — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 02:01:53 +0000

Dragon2java–I was taught the same thing in culinary school–I graduated about–hrm–eight years ago. So as of then, I was taught the exact same maxim–cook pork to slightly pink. When I say I won’t eat rare pork–I am talking rare, with myoglobin still oozing out in a reddish wave. That will not eat.

Slightly pink at 140 F. is at best medium well.

I will serve pork at that temperature from my local organic sources, but I would be hesitant to do so with any commercially available pork–I just don’t trust the stuff from CAFOs to be that clean. I know we are supposed to be able to trust it–but truthfully–I don’t.

Anne–I agree with you and Alton! We love the pig in this house!

Mamlambo–you cannot be blamed–this post is pretty much a US-centric post. It came about because I had a couple of folks on a forum elsewhere tell me that pork was white meat. And I got all kinds of irritable, because the reason Americans think that is because of a damned advertising campaign that has been all over the television, magazines, newspapers and radio for umpteen years now.

And it torques my gizzard.

Even my own husband thought it was white meat until a few years ago when he said that to me and I looked at him like he was crazy.

“Tell me you don’t believe “That other white meat” crap,” I said.

He did.

I explained.

Now he knows better.