Eating Pork Medium

National Pork Board is here to change those hearts and minds. During the 1930s and 1940s, trichinosis was a food safety factor, but that has been long gone from the food system.


The Board recommends cooking pork loins and chops to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. That is a pink-centered medium rare, followed by a 3-minute rest before serving. This was not always the case: Prior to 2011, the typical recommendation was 15 degrees higher. (Ground pork should still be cooked to 160.)

“Meat generally continues to cook even after it’s removed from a heat source so this just acknowledges that,” Kevin Waetke, vice president of strategic communication for the National Pork Board. The food service industry has been following this new pork cooking standard for almost ten years.

Bringing Home The Bacon

It has become more expensive than in the past, because of shortage of supply and increased demand. On the store shelves, average retail prices have risen more than $1 per pound since last year, to more than $4, the US Department of Agriculture reports. This is happening in the middle of other price reductions and discounts, due to the poor economy.

Bacon was once thought of only a breakfast food, but now is a round-the-clock food showing up as a garnish on all manner of dishes, including concoctions from a variety of chocolate makers. Almost two billion pounds of bacon are consumed in the United States each year, according to the National Pork Board.

One analyst suggests that demand is up because restaurants, seeking to regain business lost to the tight economy last year, have been adding more bacon to sandwiches and salads to spice up flavors.