The pig, everywhere

November 11 is Saint Martin’s Day, traditionally the day of the pig slaughter. It is always said that the pig takes advantage of everything: we eat the fresh or cured meat in the form of hams or sausages, the skin and the fat in the form of crusts, but we also tan the leather, from the hair we make brushes and from the bladder instruments of percussion. And their anatomy is so similar to ours that we even take advantage of their heart valves to implant them in patients affected by heart disease. But also, since we kill hundreds of thousands of pigs annually, we can take advantage of products that each animal has in small quantities since the extraction becomes profitable. Pork collagen is widely used in the aesthetic and food industry, for example, as a clarifying agent in wine and beer, or as a binder in candies and pills. And the two most notable medical uses are insulin and heparin of porcine origin. Pork is much more than a meat product.