Pork as a Source of Omega-3 (n-3) Fatty Acids

Thumbnail Image
Date
2015-01-01
Authors
Dugan, Michael
Vahmani, Payam
Turner, Tyler
Mapiye, Cletos
Juárez, Manuel
Prieto, Nuria
Beaulieu, Angela
Zijlstra, Ruurd
Patience, John
Major Professor
Advisor
Committee Member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Authors
Person
Patience, John
Contingent Worker
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Organizational Unit
Animal Science

The Department of Animal Science originally concerned itself with teaching the selection, breeding, feeding and care of livestock. Today it continues this study of the symbiotic relationship between animals and humans, with practical focuses on agribusiness, science, and animal management.

History
The Department of Animal Husbandry was established in 1898. The name of the department was changed to the Department of Animal Science in 1962. The Department of Poultry Science was merged into the department in 1971.

Historical Names

Journal Issue
Is Version Of
Versions
Series
Department
Animal Science
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.

Description
Keywords
Citation
DOI
Copyright
Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2015
Collections