Potential health risks
Pork is a taboo food item in Islam and Judaism, and its consumption is forbidden in these two religions.
Uncooked or untreated, the meat may harbour worms and latent diseases. Many of these infestations are harbored in other animals as well, such as salmonella in chicken.
Influenza (flu) is one of the most notable illnesses which pigs share with humans. However, the origin of the illness is found in a number of animals besides pigs. It is harbored in the lungs of the animal during the summer months and can affect both the animal and humans.
Consuming excessive amounts of pork may lead to gallstones and obesity; due to its high cholesterol and saturated fat content. However, this goes for all sorts of animal flesh, and pork is in fact quite lean – leaner than most other domesticated animals – as long as its protective layer of fat is removed.
The pig is the carrier of various helminths, like roundworm, pinworm, hookworm, etc. One of the most dangerous and common is Taenia solium, a type of tapeworm. Tapeworms may transplant to human intestines as well by consuming untreated or uncooked meat from pigs or other animals.
Trichinosis
Vacuum packed pork loin fillets
Trichinosis, also called trichinellosis, or trichiniasis, is a parasitic disease caused by eating raw or undercooked pork infected with the larvae of a species of roundworm Trichinella spiralis, commonly called the trichina worm. Infection was once very common, but is now rare in the developed world. From 1997 to 2001, an annual average of 12 cases per year were reported in the United States. The number of cases has decreased because of legislation prohibiting the feeding of raw meat garbage to hogs, increased commercial and home freezing of pork, and the public awareness of the danger of eating raw or undercooked pork products.[21]
Islam
Throughout the Islamic world many countries severely restrict the importation or consumption of pork products. Examples are Iran,[22] Mauritania,[23] Oman,[24] Qatar[25] and Saudi Arabia.[26] The Qur’anic basis for the Islamic prohibition of pork can be found in surahs 2:173, 5:3, 5:60, 6:145 and 16:115.
SOURCE FROM WIKIPEDIA.