This may come under the category of "more than I want to know about pepperoni".
Traditionally, breed hogs, mainly because of high levels of testosterone, make poor quality pork because of a distinctive taste. On the other hand, breed hogs are often huge, and yield a lot of meat. So what do they do with breed hog meat when the hogs are getting to old for breeding?
Pepperoni. I'm not kidding about this. It takes a lot of spice to disguise the distinctive flavor, and pepperoni is the spiciest pork you'll find.
And that's why I don't eat it.
Sorry