Okay that does it. I'm not eating any more pork.

[Elfdart]

The meat was very light pink

The meat was very light pink

Gaaahhh.

That. Is. Not. Pork. My God, man, you survived?

Light pink is a nice color, but NOT in this context...

Nothing compares to the ones we used to get from my uncle's hog farm, but that was a long time ago. You can still get hams that are comparable: for an arm and a leg.

[Jawawithagun]

The US has no mandated medicine withdrawal times before slaughter?
Makes me glad we do require a schedule 18 here.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Once I got to the point of complaining about heavy metals in pig waste, I stopped reading. I'm fairly sure that pigs do not contain nuclear reactions, and that any heavy metals that exit the pig entered the pig some time earlier. Anything in that article, regardless of the source, is no longer trustworthy. Either the writer is intellectually dishonest or ignorant.

Erik you are in this case, an idiot.

The term "heavy metal" is a lay term for toxic elements like As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sn and Tl

The contaminants enter through the horrible diet of the pigs, and gets concentrated in the pigs flesh throughout their lives. Some of it leaves in excrement, and as the water in the "lagoons" evaporates, the mercury, selenium etc gets left behind and becomes concentrated. Because the pigs are fed crops fertilized by their own feces, they reuptake the pollutants over and over again...

Thanks, I don't need a chemistry lecture from a bio kid. You're implying that the heavy metals are somehow festering and growing due to high concentrations in industrial-scale pig farming. The heavy metals are indeed concentrated by the process, but the total heavy metal production by the industry is exactly zero.

The concentration of heavy metals in pig meat is certainly a potential issue, as is proper handling of the waste and avoidance of spills, but the concentration in the waste is only a problem from a "solution to pollution is dilution" standpoint.

And that is exactly what the problem IS. Are they making heavy metals? No. They are just concentrating them and churning the stuff out in quantities that make the entire region a health hazard and ecological nightmare. To then say that because a lay author used the term "produce" instead of "concentrate" or the equivalent is either ignorant or dishonest and then put your head in the selenium contaminated sand in regard to the rest of the fucking article is the pinnacle of, pardon the expression, Pig-Headedness.

[Jaepheth]

Given how it effects the locals' quality of life, I have to say I'm very surprised they haven't gathered up their pitchforks and shotguns and forced Smithfield out of business in angry mob fashion.

[Stargate Nerd]

Given how it effects the locals' quality of life, I have to say I'm very surprised they haven't gathered up their pitchforks and shotguns and forced Smithfield out of business in angry mob fashion.

I'd be surprised if they still aren't railing against big government.