IR - Let me assure your correspondent, Peter Alcock that far from being "a load of rubbish" (Letters, November 11) there are many who experience revulsion at the merest mention of pork or meat from the pig apart from Muslims or Jews who have been taught this a matter

of faith.

This probably originates from the disease trichinosis, endemic in pigs and human beings for centuries in the Middle East. It is caused by the parasite trichinella spirellis which becomes deposited in muscle. It causes stiffness and painful swelling. It may also be accompanied by nausea, diarrhoea and fever. Human instinct and the wisdom of ancient scribes play their part in warning us away from a potential source of danger.

JOHN HINTON,

Worcester.

I