MUTANT pigs are to muscle their way onto the dinner tables of China - after the nation fell out of love with fatty meat.

The giant beasts are to become a staple in the pork-loving country which celebrates the start of the Year of the Pig today.

The news comes after China's Ministry of Agriculture announced hefty hogs have fallen out of fashion due to demands for lean meat.

As the world's biggest producer and consumer of pork, China has been domesticating hogs to eat for more than 8,000 years.

However, traditional breeds like Jinhua and Chenghua are now dying off as they are deemed too unhealthy for a modern diet.

In 1994, these prize porkers made up 90 per cent of the market in China, but now they account for less than two per cent.

And that leaves the barn door open for double-muscled pigs already being bred in Asia to fill the gap in the market.