Poor pigs, they have been discriminated against for quite a while now after the outbreak of the H1N1 Flu, which was named after them: Swine Flu.  The inappropriate labeling of the endemic has certainly caused uproar among the public and the media, resulting to a meltdown in the swine industry.

It all apparently started in a small town in Mexico when a person contracted a virus from a pig, and then this virus mutated and began to spread from person to person, or so we were told by the media. But, is this how it really happened?

Now that extensive genetic testing has been performed on the virus, it has been shown to have human, bird, and pig genetic markers, so it is unclear exactly how it was first transmitted. But, if it was from swine, it was from a living pig, and not by eating cooked pork.

You may recall the panic of those first couple of weeks, and the countries that placed a ban on pork products being imported, in their ill-informed hopes of preventing the spread of the virus to their corner of the globe. This had the domino effect, and the pork industry has suffered major losses of hundreds of millions of dollars so far. This could be in the billions of dollars range if the perception isn’t changed.

Hopefully, this article will banish all your qualms about eating pork.  You must be more worried about the cholesterol it has and not about the non-existent virus it contains.  Besides, lean pork is a healthy protein option for those on a diet and for non-dieters as well.  You can only contract the disease from carriers of the virus, which are humans.  So it is more likely that you’d get it from your guests and not from the pork chop on your plate.

You can read the official World Organization for Animal Health statement if you want to find out more information.