Lymph meat is found in the lower anterior part of the tracheal larynx in the neck of the pig.
Lymph nodes in pigs are usually bean-shaped, and there are hundreds of lymph nodes in the pig's body; only the ones on the surface of the body can be touched. Lymph belongs to the animal's immune organs and contains a large number of phagocytes, which can engulf all kinds of bacteria and viruses, thus posing a risk of consumption. The lymphatic meat inside properly marketed pork is usually removed, so it is safe to eat.
Knowledge Expansion
Source of Lymphatic Meat
After a pig is slaughtered in an abattoir, the lymph is usually not removed before it enters the wholesale market in order to leave a specimen for the next quarantine. In the past, these pig lymph was removed by the stall owners, were destroyed. Aiming at this "business opportunity", some unscrupulous traders began to play the idea of pig lymph. Some people squatting in the early hours of every morning in the wholesale market, specializing in the collection of these eliminated pig lymph, and then sold to traffickers. "Lymph meat" is cheap, usually sent to some small roadside restaurants, made of buns, dumplings, meatballs, and some were taken to the outskirts of the city to sell some small farmers' markets.
Why you can't eat lymph meat
There may be some bacteria in the lymph nodes, which can pose a risk of consumption if some pathogenic bacteria aren't completely removed from the animal during slaughter, or if the heating step isn't fully cooked. However, in order for an infection to cause disease, the animal itself has to be diseased + a large number of diseased lymph nodes where the pathogens have not been killed + a large amount of consumption.
How to identify pork with lymph
1, look: pale meat, fat layer, soft meat, fiber is not clear, granular meat, do not buy.
2, touch: blood neck meat with lymphatic meat feel obvious granularity, granular lumpy meat is relatively hard, contains a large number of lymph nodes, lipomas and thyroid glands.
3, smell: blood neck meat with lymph, fishy smell heavy; fresh pork has an inherent odor without odor.