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We know that people of Jewish and Muslim faith do not eat pork. Around the world, the answer to the question “why” circulates that they consider this meat impure. Most of us just shrug and move on. Few, however, begin to look for more detailed information.
The real answer is much more interesting. We eat pork on a large scale here, producing homemade products from it such as sausages, jitrnice, tlačenka, salamis and hams. Many enjoy pork lard or smoked bacon the most. But Jews and Muslims would not take such meat in their hands for an interesting reason.
Ban on consumption
Many people refer to the fact that the consumption of pork is already forbidden in the Qur’an.
“Say (O Muhammad): In what has been revealed to me I do not find anything forbidden for one who wishes to eat, except carrion, or what is bloodstained, or pork meat — because all of that is impure …”
Even though in the distant past Muslims knew almost nothing about the harmful effects of pork, they observed the ban. Generally, however, the argument about the impurity of this meat holds. So if a person of one of these two faiths says that they do not eat pork because it is impure, they are not lying. Medical research in recent years has shown the dangers of pork. Besides the amount of fat, pork is also a dangerous host of a worm known as “Treichine.” It settles in the intestines and in the muscles, and even today medicine is somewhat powerless against it. The possibilities of treating this infection are considerably limited. The specialist literature states that such a worm gets into the human body exclusively through the consumption of pork meat. It most often settles in the muscles in the area of the heart, chest, larynx, eyes or diaphragm.
Although in the past neither Jews nor Muslims had any idea about such matters, observing the ban was a sacred matter for them, a display of their trust in God. Today Muslims and even Orthodox Jews benefit from that trust, because experts have confirmed the harmfulness. However, we must not forget that pork would not be pork if the food and processing industry operated as it should. We are talking about care for pigs, hygiene, and also quality feed. In some Western countries these conditions changed radically since research proved the harmfulness of the parasite. Piglets are given only quality food and throwing away spoiled raw meat is punished with hefty fines.
Factual reasons
The fact remains that in countries where there is a higher concentration of Jewish and Muslim faiths, the climate was already very hot in the past. From the beginning it was known about pigs that they are omnivores that will consume practically anything — from grain, through swill, old kitchen food and even their own excrement. If we take such conditions into account, we understand that the meat spoiled very quickly, it was attacked by various parasites among other things and people became ill from it. Many bacteria and parasites are not killed even by heat treatment and remain in the meat.
Whatever our opinions on the issue of eating pork may be, it is important and above all humane to respect and honor the traditions and religions of others. And if not even that, then at least I respect the science that has shown that eating pork is not always worthwhile. Especially if we do not know from which farm the meat comes.
