Is Pork Toxic? BIG NEWS & Pup Pot Meals Back in Stock
Recently we’ve seen a number of comments about pork being toxic or carcinogenic. What does the research say? We did a deep dive to find out.
First, a few announcements:
Pup Pot Meals are back in stock! We had some challenges with our manufacturer which took more than a month to resolve. It’s been a painful process, but an opportunity for us to learn and ensure that our quality is always top tier. We will NEVER compromise on quality. Though mistakes happen, we will go out of our way to make things right for you and your pups.
OUR BIG NEWS
A cookbook is coming! We just signed a book deal with BenBella Books. Since the release of our ebook last year was so well received (thank you all for supporting it!), we’ve been quietly planning a proper, full length hardcover book. The target release date is Christmas 2025. Stay tuned…
Here are the latest recipes:
Thai Green Curry for Pups
Gyudog (Japanese Beef Bowl!)
Is pork toxic?
Despite pork and ham being widely available and widely consumed, there is a lot of negative associations with the meat. Many religions ban it for consumption by their followers. Some social media influencers claim that it’s carcinogenic and some of our viewers believe that pork is toxic to dogs. So what does the research say?
Not surprisingly, most of the claims you hear from social media influencers on pork causing cancer or being toxic is not based on science. According to a scoping review (a literature review done to assess the gaps in research), few conclusions can be drawn on pork consumption and health effects due to a lack of high-quality randomized controlled studies (RCTs). Most of the studies on pork and disease pathology are observational. (See here to understand why RCTs are important to draw conclusions and observational studies are flawed.)
According to a study on rural Chinese toddlers, children who ate pork had higher cognitive scores compared to those who ate only cereal fortified with vitamin B12. The scoping study also discusses evidence that 2 to 3 weekly servings of fresh pork in a Mediterranean diet is shown to improve cognitive function. Pork is rich in micronutrients including zinc, iron, selenium, choline and B-vitamins.
Why does pork get a bad rap?
While it’s difficult to say exactly why there is so much misinformation on pork, there are a few factors that probably contribute to how pork is viewed.
Cured meat: Pork is often cured into products like bacon and ham. Curing involves processing with salts and may produce carcinogens. See literature review here. The exact link between cured meats and disease is difficult to establish due to the challenges with running a long-term RCT. Thus, most of the data is observational in nature. Still cured meats are probably best consumed in moderation as they are classified as group I carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). There is less evidence that fresh meat consumption is associated with chronic disease. For example Hong Kong is the leading consumer of pork and beef (2020) while its residents have the longest lifespan (2021).
Parasites: Pigs are omnivores and can eat almost anything, just like people and dogs. Because of this we share more common parasites with pigs than any other domesticated livestock. In the past, parasites like Trichinella, Toxoplasma, Salmonella and others were spread through processing practices and undercooking. In recent decades, however, safety practices for pork production have greatly improved and pork is now safer than chicken and fish according to the CDC. See this paper based on CDC data.
Religious: pork is banned by many religions and has been for thousands of years. Though in modern times this could be confused for supernatural dictum, the explanation for it is probably more practical than spiritual. Countries, governments and states as we know them today, are only a few hundred years old. In Europe the church played a critical role in governance, education and law up until about the 15th century. In the middle east, Islamic Caliphates were responsible for administering Sharia law up until about the 13th century. It’s likely that shared pathogens, poor hygiene standards and environmental factors contributed to food-borne illness that led to their decision to ban pork.
Conclusion:
Fresh pork, under today’s improved processing practices, is not toxic. In fact it is high in essential micronutrients. Should you or your dog eat pork every day? We believe that variety is the way to go, and pork can serve as part of a balanced canine (and human) diet.
That’s all for this week!
All the best,
Joelle and the Precious Creatures Team