Why is eating raw pork bad?
I hear you always have to be super careful when handling raw pork. Why is it any worse than handling raw chicken or beef? [Short answer: It’s not!] Why can people eat raw steak but you always hear they shouldn’t eat raw pork?[They shouldn’t eat raw steak – but see below for more than you probably wanted to know] Nifty question whose answer will be based on history, urban legends, and science — followed by THE FINAL WORDS. 1) History: Pork starts out with a bad reputation: a) Pork is labeled as “unclean” in some religions. b) Pork was one of the first foods with a scientifically identified foodborne pathogen. Over 150 years ago, trichina (Trichinella spiralis), a nematode, was identified as the cause of death of a woman in Germany (Trichinae is the plural of trichina, similar to “a cactus” or “two cacti”). c) Because trichinae were easily identified (the worms or their cysts are easily seen with 10-40 X magnification) public health officials passed laws to test pork and ban this pathog
