October is National Pork Month, and for people with gout, pork is one of the most misunderstood meats on the table. The common belief is that all pork is the same — a high-purine meat to avoid. The measured data says otherwise. The same pig, cut differently, moves from Moderate to Avoid territory: pork neck reads 70.6 mg of purines per 100 g, while boneless pork loin cooked reads 333.5 mg. That is a nearly five-fold gap between two cuts of the same animal. Choosing pork for gout is not a yes-or-no question; it is a matter of cut selection and portion size. The FoodCanEat database makes that difference visible.
One pig, many purine numbers
The most useful way to think about pork and gout is to look at the same animal, cut by cut. The pig that produced a pork chop also produced a neck roast, a heart, a kidney, and a liver, and those parts carry very different purine loads. Raw pork neck measures 70.6 mg of purines per 100 g, a Moderate rating. Raw pork heart measures 119.2 mg per 100 g, also Moderate. Raw pork loin, boneless and skinless, measures 237.2 mg per 100 g — more than three times the neck — and is rated Avoid. Add cooking, and that same loin reaches 333.5 mg per 100 g. Two cuts of the same animal, separated by roughly a factor of five. This is why blanket advice to skip all pork is not precise. The relevant question is which cut you are buying, and a side-by-side view of the cuts is easier to read in our pork cuts ranking, which lines up the numbers from lowest to highest.
The moderate cuts: what a gout plate can hold
Two pork cuts sit in the Moderate band, and that is where a gout-friendly plate can start. Pork neck at 70.6 mg and pork heart at 119.2 mg per 100 g are both rated Moderate. Moderate is not free — each still carries more purines than a bowl of rice or most vegetables — but it is a different category from the Avoid cuts above it. Pork neck, often sold as collar or coppa, does well braised or slow-cooked, and a normal serving tends to stay in moderate range. Pork heart is a surprise to many people: it is organ meat, and organ meat usually ranks high, but this heart reads Moderate, below every loin cut. The general principle from our meat and gout guide applies to both: choose leaner parts, trim visible fat, and keep the serving to roughly a palm-sized portion. Pair a Moderate cut with a generous plate of vegetables and a low-purine base, and the total meal stays within a range most people with gout tolerate.
The avoid cuts: loin, kidney, and liver
On the other end of the table, several pork cuts read clearly in the Avoid band. Raw boneless skinless pork loin measures 237.2 mg of purines per 100 g, pork tenderloin measures 244.0 mg, and the same loin cooked measures 333.5 mg. Cooking matters here because it removes water and concentrates the purines in every gram — the cooked number is the one that matches what you actually serve. Organ meats rank higher still: pork kidney at 195.0 mg and pork liver at 285.0 mg per 100 g, both Avoid. Liver is among the highest-purine foods a person with gout can eat, and the advice against it is consistent across every gout food list. If you are shopping for pork, these are the cuts to pass on: the lean loin cuts that dominate American grocery stores, plus any organ meat. Preparation also changes the picture, because drippings and reductions concentrate what remains in the pan, so the cooking and purine guide is worth reading before you decide how to handle pork at home.
Processed pork, portions, and the red meat pattern
The processed side of pork adds another layer. Sausage ratings depend heavily on the product: cooked Italian pork sausage rates Moderate in the database, while cooked uncured pork sausage measures 213.2 mg per 100 g and rates Avoid. That spread is normal for processed meat, because the purine count follows the meat content and the grinding, not the label. Processed pork also carries sodium, and for many people with gout, sodium and meat matter together. Cohort research reinforces the picture: studies such as Choi et al. (2004) have associated higher intakes of red meat and processed meat with an elevated risk of gout. Pork counts as red meat in the nutritional sense, so the pattern applies. The practical translation is portion control. A few slices of bacon used for flavor, or a small serving of a Moderate pork dish, is a different situation from a plate of sausage and chops. Our processed meats comparison lays out how sausage, bacon, and deli products stack up, so you can decide where to spend a limited meat budget.
Frequently asked questions
Can I eat pork with gout?
Yes, with two conditions: cut and portion. The same pig produces Moderate cuts and Avoid cuts. Pork neck reads 70.6 mg of purines per 100 g and pork heart reads 119.2 mg, both Moderate, while raw loin jumps to 237.2–244.0 mg, cooked loin to 333.5 mg, and liver and kidney read 195.0–285.0 mg. A Moderate cut in a palm-sized portion, served with vegetables, fits a low-purine day for many people. An Avoid cut, or a heavy serving of sausage, raises the purine load of the whole meal quickly. Cohort evidence such as Choi et al. (2004) associates red and processed meat intake with higher gout risk, which is a reason to treat pork as a sometimes-food rather than a daily staple. If you want pork, pick the cut by the number first, and keep the serving modest.
Which pork cut is lowest in purines?
The lowest measured common cut is pork neck at 70.6 mg per 100 g (Moderate), with pork heart at 119.2 mg not far behind (Moderate). Everything else in the database sits higher: loin at 237.2 mg raw, tenderloin at 244.0 mg, kidney at 195.0 mg, and liver at 285.0 mg. The neck reads roughly a third of the raw loin, which shows how much cut selection changes the outcome. Lean preparation matters too — braising or grilling a Moderate cut with visible fat trimmed keeps the serving reasonable, and a smaller portion lowers the total purines even if the cut ranks higher. The practical way to use the numbers is to treat them as a ranking and pick from the bottom of the list first. When the whole pig is on the menu, the neck and the heart are the parts that stay in Moderate range; the rest of the animal moves into Avoid.
Why does cooked pork loin have more purines than raw loin?
The number rises because cooking removes water. Raw boneless skinless pork loin measures 237.2 mg of purines per 100 g, and the same cut cooked measures 333.5 mg per 100 g. The purines themselves do not multiply; the food shrinks, so the purines already present become more concentrated in every 100 g you weigh after cooking. This is why food composition databases report both raw and cooked values, and why the cooked number is the one that matches what lands on your plate. The same concentration effect applies to other meats, which is one reason portion size and cooking method both appear in gout guidance. Broiling and grilling let fat drip away, while a slow reduction in the pan concentrates juices into the final dish. Weighing or estimating your serving on the cooked basis keeps the arithmetic honest.
References: FoodCanEat purine database (USDA-based, accessed 2026-08-23); Choi HK et al. (2004), purine-rich foods and risk of gout in men, New England Journal of Medicine; USDA FoodData Central, pork composition entries.