Does All Pork Contain Parasites?

In the 1960’s, my father and his brother attempted to raise what they believed to be the first parasite-free, disease-free pork. We had piglets delivered by Caesarean section and returned to their mothers in a large, concrete, climate-controlled stall that my cousin and I had the honor of cleaning (mostly my cousin, since he was twelve and I was eight). This was before the advent of antibiotic resistance, so it simply did not occur to my father and uncle, who owned the hogs, that there would be a special benefit in raising the hogs without drugs.

Disaster struck our pig farm when my father and uncle decided to vaccinate the herd against swine flu. I have a vivid memory of the men in my family vaccinating 300 hogs all lined up in a row, the first hog dying of anaphylactic shock the very moment the 300th hog was vaccinated. Every single hog in the barn died, one after another. Our experience inspired other hog farmers to go antibiotic-free. Our family’s bankers, however, insisted that we get out of the pork business with that experience.

In the US today, most pork is raised in huge “pig factories.” Although these enterprises may be environmentally objectionable, there is only a very small probability any hog raised in them is contaminated by parasites. To make sure your pork is parasite-free, demand organic pork. I would also seek organic pork products in Canada.

In the UK, the quality of pork changed after the unification of Europe in 1995. Pork from Eastern Europe is sold in Western Europe and in the UK. Pork from Eastern Europe can carry parasites, and often does. In Europe, “free range” does not necessarily mean disease-free, since the “range” over which animals go free is considerably smaller in Europe than in North America, New Zealand, or Australia. If you eat fresh pork in Europe, make sure it is cooked thoroughly and avoid contaminating other foods while you are preparing the meat.