By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Editor
Despite news reports to the contrary, there’s no shortage of bacon in the United States.
The confusion came Wednesday after several media outlets, including USA Today, NBC, Fortune and others, ran with the news, citing the Ohio Pork Council (OPC) and the inactive website, BaconShortage.com.
Citing a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report, OPC reported the country’s frozen pork belly supply, which is what is used to make bacon, was at its lowest point in half a century.
At the end of 2016, the pork belly supply in the U.S. was at 17.8 million pounds. That’s down more than 35 million pounds.
But the Ohio Pork Council reports there’s nothing to panic about. The country is not out of bacon.
“Media reports have inaccurately implied that our organization was suggesting that there is actually a shortage of bacon,” OPC said in a statement to WOAI 1200 radio in San Antonio. “Those media accounts ignored the statement from our president that there is not a shortage of bacon. While we have no ability to predict supplies or prices of bacon, Ohio farmers will continue to work hard to ensure consumers receive the products they crave.”
The New York Times reported Wednesday afternoon that Rich Deaton, president of OPC, acknowledged in an interview that the creation of BaconShortage.com was a marketing opportunity—a way to send more people to their website.
“If somebody Googled that, they’d get on our website, and the information there is actually to quell the fears that we’re going to run out,” he told the New York Times. “The demand is high and us pig farmers, not only in Ohio but throughout the U.S., have risen to the occasion and are going to meet that demand.”
Deaton told the paper he did not intend to create a panic over a potential bacon shortage.
Texas Pork Producers told Texas Farm Bureau staff Wednesday the U.S. bacon supply is fine.