As World Iron Awareness Week ends, New Zealand Pork is reminding Kiwis of the many benefits of enjoying New Zealand pork as part of a healthy balanced diet.
“There are several misconceptions about pork, so this campaign has been designed to bust a few myths and give consumers simple easy facts around some benefits of enjoying delicious New Zealand pork in their diet,” says New Zealand Pork’s nutrition advisor Julie North of Foodcom.
“Some people believe all pork is a fatty meat, thinking of a pork roast with a thick layer of crackling or a juicy pork belly. However, most cuts of pork are quite lean when the external fat (which is easy to remove) is cut off. By trimming off the outer layer of fat, New Zealand pork is quite a lean meat.”
The leanest cuts of pork include the leg steak, fillet steak and schnitzel, (which have 3g, 3.5g and 4g of fat per 100g respectively). With summer just around the corner, it’s a great time to enjoy leg or filet steaks on the barbeque, and schnitzel is a family favourite any time of year.
Many New Zealanders may also be unaware of the essential nutrients in New Zealand pork. It is a great source of quality protein and zinc, and also provides iron, and many B vitamins. Iron deficiency can be an ongoing issue for some New Zealanders, something World Iron Awareness Week brings to light. Pork is a great option to boost iron intakes with haem iron that is easily absorbed in the body.
Protein supports our health – being important for normal growth and development, and skin, bone and muscle function. Pork is comparable to beef as a great source of quality protein – a 100g beef fillet and 100g pork fillet both provide around 30g protein.
“Another common misconception about pork, can be that it is a salty meat,” says Julie.
“However, fresh cuts of pork are naturally low in sodium and can generally be enjoyed as part of a low sodium diet, or by those looking to reduce their salt intake. Meats that may be salty are generally processed, such as sausages and bacon (due to salt being added as part of the processing).”
New Zealand Pork is committed to spreading the word about the benefits of including fresh, lean New Zealand pork as part of a healthy diet. As part of this nutrition campaign, it has created six new tasty and nutritious recipes – there’s something for everyone! Click here to find out more.
