WASHINGTON — A consumers group wants the federal government to halt advertising by the National Pork Producers Council that it says is "deceptive and dangerously misleading."

The Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a petition today with the Federal Trade Commission challenging various ad claims that pork is low in fat, low in cholesterol and low in calories.

The center said the industry's 3-year-old campaign touting pork as "the other white meat" is misleading because it claims that pork "is as nutritious as chicken, turkey and fish."

Bruce Silverglade, legal director for the science center, said government data shows that almost all cuts of pork are considerably higher in fat, saturated fat and calories.