Don't drink the pig blood? Not so fast!

Wednesday, August 17, 2016 11:22 a.m. CDT by Todd Epp



Tanker carrying pork blood from the John Morrell plant in Sioux Falls. KELO Radio photo by Todd Epp.

The shiny stainless steel tanker that you might see milk transported in had an odd message. ... “Inedible. Not intended for human food. Pork blood only.” ... Like people are stopping the semi and asking for a cup of pig blood?

At first blush, it seems odd to see such a warning—and product—in 2016. ... But if you slaughter tens of thousands a hogs a day like Smithfield’s John Morrell plant in Sioux Falls does, you have to do something legal with the blood. ... Like transport it away.

In the bad old days, it might have ended up in the Big Sioux River.

Today, a truck with Iowa license plates takes it away to be turned into, well, what exactly? ... According to a federal government study, most likely, blood meal for—oddly enough—livestock, particularly for piglets. So, more pigs might be eating their departed relatives as they are fattened. Think of it as a bloody and slightly cannibalistic “circle of life.”