Technically, pork is considered red meat, but certain cuts are nutritionally similar to chicken and other white meat.
Pork accounts for 30% of the meat that people consume across the world.
However, despite its worldwide popularity, many people are unsure about its correct classification.
That’s because some classify it as red meat, while others consider it to be white meat.
This article examines whether pork is white or red meat.
The main difference between red and white meat’s color is the amount of myoglobin found in the animal’s muscle.
In meat, myoglobin becomes the main pigment responsible for its color, as it produces a bright red tone when it comes into contact with oxygen.
Red meat has a higher myoglobin content than white meat, which is what sets their colors apart.
Additionally, a 2025 comparative analysis notes that slow-twitch muscle fibers have higher myoglobin content than fast-twitch muscle fibers. Slow-twitch muscle fibers are more common in red meat while fast-twitch muscle fibers are more common in white meat.
Furthermore, packaging and processing methods may lead to variations in meat color.
The optimum surface color of raw meat from beef, lamb, pork, and veal should be cherry red, dark cherry red, grayish-pink, and pale pink, respectively. As for raw poultry, it may vary from bluish-white to yellow.
According to a 2025 comparative analysis, pork is classified as red meat.
There are two main reasons for this classification.
First, pork has more myoglobin than poultry and fish. As such, it’s classified as red meat despite not having a bright red color — and even if it becomes lighter when cooked.
Second, given that pigs are mammals, rather than fish or birds, pork is classified as red meat along with beef, lamb, and veal. This is because all meat that originates from mammals is considered to be red meat.
According to culinary tradition, the term white meat refers to meat with a pale color both before and after cooking.
Thus, culinarily speaking, pork is classified as white meat.
What’s more, a campaign launched by the National Pork Board — a program sponsored by the USDA’s agricultural marketing service — may have reinforced this position.
The campaign started in the late 1980s as an effort to promote pork as a lean meat alternative, and it became very popular with the slogan, “Pork. The other white meat.”
However, keep in mind that the campaign’s goal was to increase consumer demand for lower fat cuts of pork.
White and red meat differ in their amount of myoglobin, the protein responsible for a meat’s color.
Red meat has more myoglobin than white meat, and a higher myoglobin content generates a darker meat color.
Though culinary tradition treats pork as white meat, it’s scientifically red meat, as it has more myoglobin than poultry and fish.
Additionally, as a farm animal, pork is classified as livestock, which is also considered red meat.
Some lean cuts of pork are nutritionally similar to chicken, leading to the marketing slogan, “Pork. The other white meat.”