Pork is considered a red meat.
White meat or light meat refers to the lighter-colored meat of poultry as contrasted with dark meat. In a more general sense, white meat may also refer to any lighter-colored meat, as contrasted with red meats like beef and some types of game.
Given nutritional concerns, meat producers are eager to have their products considered white meat, and the United States National Pork Board has positioned their product as "Pork. The Other White Meat", alongside poultry and fish; however, meats which are red when raw and turn white on cooking, like pork, are categorized by the United States Department of Agriculture as red meats if the myoglobin level reaches above 65%
This categorization is controversial as some types of fish, such as tuna, are red when raw and turn white when cooked; similarly, certain types of poultry that are sometimes grouped as "white meat" are actually "red" when raw, such as duck and goose. In contrast, the USDA considers all meat from mammals to be "red meat."
In Israel, where Jewish dietary laws are popularly practiced, forbidding the consumption of pork, "white meat" is the accepted euphemism for pork.
However, Commonly, especially in gastronomy, red meat is red when raw and not pale in color when cooked, in contrast to white meat, which is pale in color before and after cooking. This definition only refers to flesh from mammals or fowl.
In nutritional science red meat is defined as any meat that has more myoglobin than a white meat, white meat being defined as non dark meat from chicken (excluding leg or thigh), or fish. Some meats, pork for example, are red meats using the nutritional definition and white meats using the common definition.
In the mid 80's, when health-conscience consumers decided that red meat was unhealthy, the pork industry lost sales dramatically. In an effort to regain lost ground, the Pork Council started a catchy and attractive campaign ("The other white meat") in 1987. The campaign worked and the demand for pork quickly rose.
In fact, today's pork prices rise at a rate faster than the cost of living inflation. During the shift of perception, though, people began to refer to it as a white meat rather than a red meat (9 out of 10 people recognize the slogan).
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| Is pork red meat |
