Good Question: Why has the price of chitterlings gone from $8 last year to $30 this year?

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - We’ve done several stories about holiday meals going up, but one item might not be available at all.

Today’s Good Question: Why has the price of chitterlings gone from $8 last year to $30 this year?

Well, we know inflation has hit the grocery store, but Steve McClain with the Kentucky Grocers Association told us chitlins are being impacted more than most items.

McClain told us it’s because of labor shortages at meat processing plants. He says processing the pig intestines that become chitlins is labor intensive and is one of the least desirable jobs at the plant.

Where that material would have previously been processed, it’s now sometimes being sold as a byproduct to pet food companies, which means there is a shortage of chitlins, driving the price up.

He told me they’ve doubled just within the past week.

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