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Article
Pork as a Source of Omega-3 (n-3) Fatty Acids
Journal of Clinical Medicine
  • Michael E. R. Dugan, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
  • Payam Vahmani, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
  • Tyler D. Turner, Josera GmbH & Co. KG
  • Cletos Mapiye, Stellenbosch University
  • Manuel Juárez, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
  • Nuria Prieto, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
  • Angela D. Beaulieu, Prairie Swine Centre, Inc.
  • Ruurd T. Zijlstra, University of Alberta
  • John F. Patience, Iowa State University
  • Jennifer L. Aalhus, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
1-1-2015
DOI
10.3390/jcm4121956
Abstract

Pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world, but typical feeding practices give it a high omega-6 (n-6) to omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid ratio and make it a poor source of n-3 fatty acids. Feeding pigs n-3 fatty acids can increase their contents in pork, and in countries where label claims are permitted, claims can be met with limited feeding of n-3 fatty acid enrich feedstuffs, provided contributions of both fat and muscle are included in pork servings. Pork enriched with n-3 fatty acids is, however, not widely available. Producing and marketing n-3 fatty acid enriched pork requires regulatory approval, development costs, quality control costs, may increase production costs, and enriched pork has to be tracked to retail and sold for a premium. Mandatory labelling of the n-6/n-3 ratio and the n-3 fatty acid content of pork may help drive production of n-3 fatty acid enriched pork, and open the door to population-based disease prevention polices (i.e., food tax to provide incentives to improve production practices). A shift from the status-quo, however, will require stronger signals along the value chain indicating production of n-3 fatty acid enriched pork is an industry priority.

Comments

This article is published as Dugan, Michael ER, Payam Vahmani, Tyler D. Turner, Cletos Mapiye, Manuel Juárez, Nuria Prieto, Angela D. Beaulieu, Ruurd T. Zijlstra, John F. Patience, and Jennifer L. Aalhus. "Pork as a source of omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids." Journal of Clinical Medicine 4, no. 12 (2015): 1999-2011. doi: 10.3390/jcm4121956.

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Copyright Owner
The Authors
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Michael E. R. Dugan, Payam Vahmani, Tyler D. Turner, Cletos Mapiye, et al.. "Pork as a Source of Omega-3 (n-3) Fatty Acids" Journal of Clinical Medicine Vol. 4 Iss. 12 (2015) p. 1999 - 2011
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/john-patience/70/