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Strategies & Market Trends : Fascist Oligarchs Attack Cute Cuddly Canadians -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (560)	9/5/2002 9:18:31 AM
From: E. Charters	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1293

Asians do not have the same sensibility about pork as we do, since the environment is different. In fact in the past ten years, Canada has increased the temperature recommendation of cooking pork from 160 degrees to 170 degrees for seven minutes, so they must think there could be some sort of problem still around. The tests which set the 160 degree standard were made in the late 1940's in Canada after testing hogs for Trichina. About one in 48 had the worm. Most barn fed hogs would not be infected these days. A rooting animal or one whose feed was not to standard could be. I would suggest it is impossible to know these conditions with confidence. Over 2 million pounds of meat in Quebec was found in the early 80's to have originated from cattle or swine that died of some cause and were not slaughtered. Since you cannot trust the supply necessarily you had better cook well. BTW, that article says that Trichina cannot be killed by smoking or salting. In fact, pork shoulder rolls are injected with salt to cure them. I used to work at a meat packing plant that did just that. As well, other articles I have read say that smoking does kill Trichina. I guess it might matter how it is done. Another point I would hesitate to agree on is whether or not cooking meat until it is no longer pink is a measure to go by. I would suggest that while it is one indicator, it may not be satisfactory. I would tend to trust oven temperature, cooking time and a meat thermometer a lot more. One of the keys is the interior of the meat has to reach a certain temperature and remain there for a certain time. I don't think you will know this in general without testing with a meat thermometer and a clock. I would suggest that if you don't cook pork right to beige you are playing Trichina roulette, and considering the disease is very debilitative to fatal, it is not a game I would like to play. I am sure one restaurant owner who asked me if I would like my pork rare or well done, did not understand at all when I walked out without saying a word. It was a Canadian doctor who identified the problem in this country in the 1930's and was responsible for getting the cooking standards changed. He was convinced that there were many people suffering from low level undetected Trichina infections and that this caused obesity and other complaints. Larger and larger concerns are controlling our food supply these days. Whilst one one hand it gives comfort that there may be a better uniformity of health standards, it may also give rise to the concomitant human failings of excessive zeal toward profits, corruptible bureacracy and a willful oversight of things, any of which could lead to widespread food contamination and health problems. If MacDonalds screws up, millions could suffer. EC<:-}