With the introduction of mandatory country of origin labeling for meat products in Korea, the editors of Cookand magazine, a monthly South Korean magazine focused on food, cooking, restaurants, chefs and wine, thought it would be interesting to conduct a blind taste test of pork from around the world. So, frozen meat samples were collected from Austria, Belgium, Chile and the United States. Tested were collar butt and single-ribbed belly, which are the most popular pork cuts among Korean consumers.

The results were surprising for Korean participants as two five-person panels consisting of food bloggers and meat industry professionals gave U.S. pork very high marks. Several of the respondents expressed surprise when they learned that the pork samples they favored came from the United States rather than domestic sources. The magazine editors wrote that beyond our expectations, U.S. pork was rated highly in both the frozen and chilled categories.