The federal government has abruptly removed pork products including bacon, pork chops, pork links, and ham from the national menu for 206,000 federal inmates. Prison Bureau officials say pork has become too expensive to buy and inmates just don’t like the taste of pork. Dave Warner with the National Pork Producers Council says the Bureau did conduct a survey but its unclear what it actually said about inmate preference.

He says his group is looking into this decision and trying to determine their next step.

Warner says other federal agencies often buy a good share of pork and believe it’s an affordable food choice.

Warner says pork is healthy and economical, especially for a big buyer like the federal government. He says it’s hard to believe a survey would have found a majority of any population saying they dislike bacon.