Question

Is ~50% of the calamari consumed actually pig rectum?

Answer 1

This is an untrue statement that was based in assumption that was made by a meat processing manager on the NPR show The American Life. In the source provided none of the statements are based in fact or said with sureness in regard to the "pork bung" being sold and served as calamari. Multiple sources mention the same interview but refer to it as a source of entertainment. One even referring to the legal obstacle with this being true. 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/imitation-calamari-sliced-pig-rectum_n_2482063

https://www.dallasobserver.com/restaurants/npr-claims-pig-rectum-is-a-suitable-substitute-for-calamari-in-a-pinch-7043151

Comments

This fact check is very helpful and both of these sources are great and back up your statement that the original claim is false. This claim is some sort of myth that I've seen going around multiple times for the last few years and it has always been disproven.

Answer 2

This is a popular urban myth created and popularized by the American Life article which this article refrences. The original article is based off of very little evidence and has multitudes of articles disproving it (https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/01/calamari-made-of-pig-rectum-the-this-american-life-rumor-isnt-true-but-its-fascinating.html)

Answer 3

This is another food urban legend that was popularized by a PETA article as well as an American Life Show. On that show, the producers went over a bunch of "food doppelgangers", such as fake hot dogs and imitation crab. They eventually began to discuss "imitation calamari", where they showed how pig intestines could be prepared in a way to be mistaken as calamari. Naturally, this began a bit of a myth where some were concerned, they were being fed imitation calamari at restaurants. There is no evidence to point that this fake calamari has been distributed by any restaurants. This is not to say that it is not possible, but it would most likely be advertised as such, much like imitation crab is.

'Imitation Calamari' Investigated By 'This American Life,' Suggested To Have Dubious, Pork-Based Origin | HuffPost Life

Answer 4

The claim that 50% of calamari consumed is actually pig rectum lacks credible evidence and is not supported by any verifiable sources. This idea appears to have started from a 2013 episode of NPR's "This American Life," which explored this possibility. That did not provide concrete evidence of this substitution being a practice. However, a study conducted by students at Frank McCourt High School in New York City aimed to determine whether restaurants were serving pig rectum as calamari. Their research showed that most calamari samples were authentic, and none contained pig rectum. However, the DNA identified was that of chicken and deer..

https://dnabarcoding101.org/files/uploads/0000/joralemon-1191-poster-M6VGI.pdf

Answer 5

This is a pop culture myth that is being perpetuated from an interview that was taken out of context. No, 50% of calamari consumed is not pig rectum.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/imitation-calamari-sliced-pig-rectum_n_2482063

https://dnabarcoding101.org/files/uploads/0000/joralemon-1191-poster-M6VGI.pdf

Answer 6

This statement is untrue, the source offered states that it is against the law to have items that are inspected are not allowed to purport a product of a different species. The article then tries to back it up by stating "but people break the rules all the time" however that is not a supporting argument it is a statement of which was not backed up by any evidence. The article goes on to say that fraud involving seafood is commonplace however according to https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/sustainable-seafood/seafood-fraud the "bait and switch" is not the most common type of seafood fraud meaning that it may be commonplace the more far more popular type of seafood fraud is having to do with weight rather than species. Finally even if seafood fraud were to happen it is much more commonplace for it to be a different type of fish than a completely different animal.