DHA is a long chain (C22:3) omega-3 fatty acid normally found in fish.
Pigs and humans can convert shorter dietary omega-3 fats (18:3) from plants,
such as flax, to DHA but only at a rate < 10%. Standard corn or grain fed pork typically contains < 20mg DHA per 100 g serving but this can be increased to ~70mg if the pigs are fed 15% crushed flax. The present trial was conducted to determine if pork DHA content could be raised even higher, if DHA was fed directly. The bacon (n=40) was distributed for sensory evaluation in a home use test (HUT) survey. Often feeding highly unsaturated fats to pigs can lead to problems of `off’ odours caused by fat oxidation. Bacon from pigs fed diets of more than 0.6% DHA (~1188 mg per day) began to have off odours and off flavours described as `barnyard’ or `fishy’ which correlated with the amount of oxidation, as measured by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). In a survey of 40 panellists, over 60% said they would choose omega-3 bacon over regular bacon; however only ~ 60% would buy bacon supplemented above the 0.6% level.