One hundred and five samples of pig backfat were assessed for appearance (colour and translucency) and hardness. The fatty acid profile of a selected subset of 50 samples was determined. Increased yellow colour was associated with increased linoleic and α-linolenic acid percentages. Increased translucency and fat softness were associated with decreased percentages of palmitic and stearic and oleic acid and a concurrent increase in the proportions of linoleic and α-linolenic acid. Oleic acid was found to be the single highest component (33.0-45.4%) and linoleic to show the greatest variation in range (9.8-28.4%).