And this little piggy came home

Just in case you were worried about porking out, it's time to relax - the global concern with so-called swine flu has been declared as not a food-borne safety issue by leading world and local health organisations.

It seems that despite the name, you can't get swine flu from eating pork or pork products.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says “swine influenza has not been shown to be transmissible to people through eating properly handled and prepared pork (pig meat) or other products derived from pigs.

Senior Lecturer, Intensive Agriculture, Department of Production, Animal Health and Medicine at Murdoch University, Dr John Carr, also assures Australians that swine flu doesn't exist in Australian pigs. As all fresh pork in Australia is from Australian pig farms, Dr Carr says consumers should not avoid pig products.

“There is a concern regarding the association of a name,” says Dr Carr. “But there is no swine flu in Australian pork and even if you buy pork that has come in from abroad, the meat is all processed ... and the processing procedure and certainly cooking would render the virus inactive.”

The World Organisation for Animal Health Director General Bernard Vallat described the virus being dubbed 'swine flu' as in fact a cocktail of four different strains. “There is no proof that this virus, currently circulating among humans, really is of animal origin. There is no element to support this.”

So there it is folks!