Since H1N1 became an issue there has been a lot of speculation and sensationalism around whether or not it is safe to consume pork. We even had a hog farm in Alberta quarantined to contain the virus from spreading to neighboring farms. I first saw Dr. Cate Dewey, University of Guelph, on the CBC National when the H1N1 first hit the news and she explained then how H1N1 spreads and how pork was safe. Of course this was buried in the back end of the newscast after there was 45 minutes of “SWINE FLU–THE NEXT PANDEMIC?”
In this video Dr. Dewey clearly explains that. “The virus will entirely contained in the lungs of the pig. The influenza virus never goes into the blood of the pig and it never goes into the muscle of the pig. So pork is safe.”
It really does beg the question why did we ever call it swine flu. The damage that has been done to the food safety perception of pork will take a long time to build back. The unfortunate part is that in reality it was much to about nothing in terms of food safety. Put some pork on your fork this long weekend because Dr. Cate Dewey and I said so.