Effects of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) on Swine Performance and Body Composition

Market animals fed conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) could be leaner, have less fat and more muscle, and an increased rate of gain and improved feed efficiency. Improvement of these three production variables–improved lean, rate of gain, and feed efficiency–would offer significant economic advantages in swine production. Moreover, consumers would have available a leaner, more healthful meat product because consumption of the product could potentially help prevent obesity, cancer, and heart disease. Coupling both production efficiencies and the consumption of a more healthful meat product would mean significant enhancement economically for the pork industry. This project taken in total offers economic incentives to produce lean meat animals at the farm level and a more healthful product for consumption