Lean pigmeat ideal for that healthy diet plan

Grocer,  Feb 13, 1999  

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The composition of British quality assured pigmeat confirms its contribution to a healthy diet.

"Available evidence can certainly be used to advantage by the Pork and Bacon Promotion Council, in its launch of a single Quality Standard Mark for fresh pork, cured and further processed pigmeat products," says Chris Warkup, the MLC's livestock and meat science manager. "Over 30 years, breeders have continually and painstakingly selected lines of pigs which produce high lean yield and little fat. The results have been tremendously successful. Only 20 years ago the average pig carcase contained only 47% lean meat, the rest mainly fat and bone. Today, the average carcase is 59% lean.

"Once any excess fat is trimmed to produce visually attractive lean cuts the resulting products are surprisingly low in fat content. So much so that lean leg cuts, lean dice and well trimmed loin steaks can often contain less than 5% fat," says Warkup.

"The historical perception of the pig was of a fat animal, but while that perception still lingers, the work, by UK pig breeders in particular, has produced an animal containing less fat and much more lean meat," he say.

"Lean pigmeat is a brilliant source of vitamins, iron, protein and minerals and can make an important contribution to a well balanced diet. The modern and fast growing leaner pig has also changed substantially in the composition of its body fat. While the fat becomes more saturated as pigs get older and fatter, today's leaner and younger pigs also contain a higher proportion of the healthier polyunsaturated fats within their total fat content at slaughter," says Warkup.

He explains that the official food tables, used by dieticians, have become progressively outdated. Recent work, funded by MAFF and the MLC and supervised by the Royal Society of Chemistry, has bee used to update the food tables. These now show the average British consumer obtained 15.9g of fat a day from meat in 1995, compared with 27.8g in 1975. Much of this change can be attributed to the increased leanness of pigmeat, an attribute also shared by leaner beef and lamb to some extent.

The MLC has estimated that between 1982 and 1992. the annual production of pig fat in Britain, from a population of similar size, was reduced by 47,000 tonnes.

Some critics, mainly confined to the older generation, still insist fat is required for good eating quality in pigmeat, but this is refuted by Warkup.

MLC funded research shows clearly that influences after pigs leave the farm, such as correct carcase chilling and maturation prior to retail sale, have a much greater influence on eatability than the pig's inbuilt characteristics. These components, including the beneficial effects of high voltage electrical stimulation of carcases after slaughter, are listed in the MLC's Blueprint for Lean and Tender Pork.

Warkup says: "It is important to realise fat acts as an efficient insulator during cooking. For a given cooking time, a fat piece of meat will not reach as high a temperature as a lean one. This in turn means that, unless adjustments are made, leaner cuts can become tougher and drier as a consequence of overcooking.

"The MLC is constantly updating its cooking recommendations to help cooks achieve the best results with lean meat and the latest instructions are widely available on retail packs."

COPYRIGHT 1999 William Reed Ltd.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning