Call it what it is!

Whichever you call it “bad journalism” or “sensationalistic journalism”, its just plain wrong. Why is it that the majority of the media continue to call the H1N1 virus by its improper moniker of “swine flu”? America’s hog farmers have suffered a terrible injustice due to this error in reporting. Media insistence on calling the H1N1 virus by the wrong name has cost pork producers dearly this year in regional sales as well as an enormous loss in global exports. And the injustice just continues as we gear up for flu season. Be rest assured H1N1 is NOT a food borne illness. It cannot be contracted by eating pork. Numerous national and world food and health organizations and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack have all stated that U.S. pork products are safe to eat. Hopefully there will be more of us this flue season calling this “bug” by its true name, H1N1 virus, and even more importantly, a larger number of us working to get the message out to the American consumers that they have nothing to fear from eating U.S. pork.