Expert explains: Why is pork mixed into beef even though it is more expensive?

In the list of adulterated and counterfeit products, which the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry began publishing for the first time on October 2, it was revealed that pork was used in many businesses, including the famous restaurant chain Köfteci Yusuf. So why is pork mixed into beef? Here are the details...

Halit Özbahçıvan, the import manager for the company Gourmet Pork, stated in an interview with Mustafa Ali Akyol from Patronlar Dünyası that the pork used by the companies listed by the ministry is not meat from domesticated pigs raised on farms, but rather wild boar.

Stating that carcass (bone-in) beef is sold for 300-350 liras and that the current selling price for carcass pork is in the 350-400 lira range, Halit Özbahçıvan continued his remarks as follows:

WHY ARE THEY PUTTING PORK IN BEEF?

“It would be pointless to use meat from farm-raised pigs just to make it cheaper. Besides, with such a price scale, no company would take that risk. The meat they use is not from healthy farm-raised pigs, but from wild boars that are hunted and traded illegally.”

Halit Özbahçıvan stated that there is an unofficial, unnamed market for wild boars, which is sustained by boars hunted by hunters, adding, "Sometimes hunters even come to us and try to sell the wild boars they have shot." 

WILD BOARS TRADED ILLEGALLY

“It would make no sense for them to use the meat of pigs raised on farms just to keep costs low. Besides, with such a price scale, no company would take that risk. The meat they use is not from healthy farm-raised pigs, but from wild boars that are hunted and traded in violation of the law.”

Özbahçıvan also stated that the wild boar meat sold cheaply and used by companies carries the risk of containing a parasite called 'Trichinella'.