Studies show that about 75% of consumers are sensitive to boar taint, leading pork producers to control this in order to maximize profits.
Another possible method to control boar taint is to use sex sorted semen for artificial insemination so as to produce mostly female offspring.
This method has been successfully used in cattle breeding, but the technique is still under research and no economical or practical solution yet exists in pig production.
It can be administered by trained farm personnel and enables the production of pork meat that is claimed to be of high quality and to be safe for consumers to eat.
By stimulating production of antibodies specific to GnRH, the vaccine stops the chain of events that lead to the release of testosterone and other steroids from the testes, including androstenone, one of the two causes of boar taint.
[13] The vaccine will work in multiple mammalian species and is commonly used for contraceptive purposes in zoo animals and oestrus suppression in horses.