U.S. pigs are too plump to sell as holiday hams

U.S. pigs are too plump to sell as holiday hams
(Image credit: iStock)

Hogs in the United States are so heavy that many can't actually be sold as spiral-cut hams this holiday season.

A virus killed millions of piglets last year, which led to farmers feeding pigs for longer periods of time to make up for their losses, Bloomberg reports. When a pig's hind legs are on the larger size, they are unable to be used as 7-pound spiral-cut half hams. That type of ham is at its most popular around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.