The Vintage Canned Pork Product That No One Buys Anymore

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Pork: it's the most-consumed meat in the world. But while we go crazy for loins and chops, a savory pork belly, or (of course!) bacon, some Americans can be squeamish about parts of the pig that other cultures happily enjoy, like trotters or pig ears. And, yet, there is a pork product guaranteed to inspire even worse squeamishness – canned pork brains in milk gravy. Checking out the Amazon reviews on that product, most buyers seem to have purchased the cans as a gag gift, leading to plenty of jokes about doomsday prepping and feeding zombies.

Once upon a time, Americans happily tucked into brains from common domestic livestock, like cows, pigs, and sheep. Cookbooks from the 19th century praised brains for having a versatile, adaptable flavor and for being an inexpensive main dish. Brains were viewed as a great breakfast, to the point that the main contemporary purveyor of milk-soaked brains, Rose Brand, pictures fluffy pink brains scrambled with eggs on the label. 

A few unfortunate developments in recent generations tarnished the inclusion of brains in the lexicon of popular foods. It was discovered that they were absolutely laden in cholesterol, to the tune of hundreds of times the recommended daily value in a modest serving, and concerns grew about prion diseases that could be contracted by eating the organ, like Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Additionally, there's speculation that brains, even more than other types of offal, became irredeemably branded as a poverty food, damning their chances of ever becoming trendy again.

On the long list of discontinued canned foods, bygone offerings range from the "okay, cool" class of novelties like canned chocolate pudding all the way to pumpkin spice Spam. Campbell's discontinued its Pepper Pot soup in 2010, largely because it utilized tripe, another unpopular organ meat. The soup company even admitted that changing preferences were their reason for 86'ing the variety, which had previously enjoyed over 100 years on shelves.

Some wacky canned foods have a strong regional attachment that justifies their existence, like canned brown bread, which has its origins in New England tradition. Southern cooks might have a use for canned boiled peanuts or she crab soup, but the rest of the country likely doesn't know what to do with them. But then there are true oddities like Sweet Sue Canned Whole Chicken, which we have only ever seen utilized as a whammy ingredient on "Chopped."