  We investigate the observed muon deficit in air shower simulations when
compared to ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) data. Based upon the observed
enhancement of strangeness production in high-energy hadronic collisions
reported by the ALICE Collaboration, the concomitant $\pi \leftrightarrow K$
swap is considered as the keystone to resolve the muon anomaly through its
corresponding impact on the shower development. We construct a toy model in
terms of the $\pi \leftrightarrow K$ swapping probability $F_s$. We present a
parametrization of $F_s$ in terms of the pseudorapidity that can accommodate
the UHECR data. Looking to the future, we explore potential strategies for
model improvement using the massive amounts of data to be collected by LHC
neutrino detectors, such as FASER$\nu$ and experiments at the Forward Physics
Facility. We calculate the corresponding sensitivity to $F_s$ and show that
these experiments will be able to probe the model phase space.
