Move over eggs, here comes omega-3 pork

Winnipeg firm wins award for farm innovation

Shoppers in search of a food that provides a health benefit beyond basic nutrition can now add pork to the list.

Prairie Orchard Farms, a Winnipeg-based meat producer has introduced an omega-3 pork designed for human consumption.

“I would consider it to be the first meat with functional food values,” said Willy Hoffman, president of Prairie Orchard Farms. “What this does is create more opportunities for consumers to have healthy food products.”

Hogs in the omega-3 program are fed a stringent diet enriched with vitamins and organic minerals, supplemented with a plant-source of essential fatty acids.

These essential omega-3 fatty acids have shown to have beneficial effects on human health.

“Omega 3 in general have cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory health properties so it is great for a wide range of consumers from the young to the old,” Hoffman said.

These fatty acids are thought to prevent blood platelets from clotting and sticking to artery walls, thus reducing the risk of a heart attack.

Some studies suggest that the addition of omega-3 fatty acids to the diet (one or more servings per week) can reduce the risk of cardiac death by 44 per cent.

In addition, to omega-3 the product also offers an excellent source of selenium, which is a trace mineral that is essential to good health.

“The selenium we have approved for our product as well is an anti-oxidant and helps reduce the risks of certain types of cancers,” Hoffman said.

The antioxidants found in selenium help protect the body against free radicals, which can contribute to heart disease and many types of cancers, as well as Alzheimer’s disease.

To date, Prairie Orchard Farms pork is the only meat other than fish that has been approved for omega-3 content labelling by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

For unravelling the mystery of how to absorb omega-3 naturally, Hoffman was awarded with Canadian Agri-Foods Award of Excellence in the Innovation category.

“It all started seven years ago when we were deciding what trends agriculture will be going down and we thought that functional foods would have interesting values,” Hoffman said.

Back then, the omega-3 egg was just hitting the market, now it constitutes 15 per cent of egg sales.

Hoffman said he would be extremely pleased if his product receives a similar percentage in the pork market.

“We have a waiting list of producers who want to work with us,” Hoffman said. “We do pay the producers a little bit extra for making sure that they are following our program because it does takes extra time and care on their part,” Hoffman said.

The “On-Farm” program begins with a quality feeding program from birth to 120 days of age. It is stringent, eliminating all animal by-products, all in-feed antibiotics, as well as all genetically engineered feed ingredients.

Higher levels of vitamins and organic minerals, as well as probiotics are used to maintain their health and growth, and omega-3 fatty acids are fed to achieve the desired meat quality characteristics.

Currently, the product is being offered at upscale Winnipeg shops such as La Grotta’s, Mediterranean market, as well as Stephen and Andrews Food and Wine Shop.

“The of cost of our product is slightly more expensive because of the ingredients we feed our hogs. Its price would be somewhere in between regular and organic,” Hoffman said.

In addition, to the omega-3 pork Prairie Orchard Farms is also producing an omega-3 enhanced chicken, which they hope will be in stores this December.