title: Pork as a Source of Omega-3 (n-3) Fatty Acids.
abstract: Pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world, but typical feeding practices give it a high omega-6 (n-6) to omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid ratio and make it a poor source of n-3 fatty acids. Feeding pigs n-3 fatty acids can increase their contents in pork, and in countries where label claims are permitted, claims can be met with limited feeding of n-3 fatty acid enrich feedstuffs, provided contributions of both fat and muscle are included in pork servings. Pork enriched with n-3 fatty acids is, however, not widely available. Producing and marketing n-3 fatty acid enriched pork requires regulatory approval, development costs, quality control costs, may increase production costs, and enriched pork has to be tracked to retail and sold for a premium. Mandatory labelling of the n-6/n-3 ratio and the n-3 fatty acid content of pork may help drive production of n-3 fatty acid enriched pork, and open the door to population-based disease prevention polices (i.e., food tax to provide incentives to improve production practices). A shift from the status-quo, however, will require stronger signals along the value chain indicating production of n-3 fatty acid enriched pork is an industry priority.
authors.affiliation: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe Research Centre, Lacombe T4L 1W1, AB, Canada. mike.dugan@agr.gc.ca.
authors.forename: Michael E R
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Dugan
authors.affiliation: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe Research Centre, Lacombe T4L 1W1, AB, Canada. payam.vahmani@agr.gc.ca.
authors.forename: Payam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vahmani
authors.affiliation: Josera GmbH &amp; Co. KG, Kleinheubach 63924, Germany. t.turner@josera.de.
authors.forename: Tyler D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa. cmapiye@sun.ac.za.
authors.forename: Cletos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mapiye
authors.affiliation: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe Research Centre, Lacombe T4L 1W1, AB, Canada. manuel.juarez@agr.gc.ca.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Juárez
authors.affiliation: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe Research Centre, Lacombe T4L 1W1, AB, Canada. nuria.prieto@agr.gc.ca.
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Prieto
authors.affiliation: Prairie Swine Centre, Inc., Saskatoon S7H 3J8, SK, Canada. denise.beaulieu@usask.ca.
authors.forename: Angela D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Beaulieu
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2R3, AB, Canada. ruurd.zijlstra@ualberta.ca.
authors.forename: Ruurd T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Zijlstra
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-3150, USA. jfp@iastate.edu.
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Patience
authors.affiliation: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe Research Centre, Lacombe T4L 1W1, AB, Canada. jennifer.aalhus@agr.gc.ca.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Aalhus
keywords: DHA; EPA; ETA; LNA; n-3; omega-3; pig; pork