Turkey Safe, Nutritious Thanksgiving Food
Contact(s): Mike Davis, 979-845-7658, mdavis@poultry.tamu.edu
Dr. Mike Davis said, “The easiest way to make sure your family is safe is to cook your food thoroughly.”
Make sure to cook poultry to 180 F internally. Measure the temperature with a meat thermometer, he said.
“That way we will kill any potential bacteria that may be on or inside of the meat itself,” Davis said. “Use safe practices in the kitchen.”
The chance of getting avian influenza by consuming Thanksgiving turkeys is nil, Davis said.
“Turkeys that, perchance, would be infected with avian influenza would never be taken to a production market; they would never be taken to a processing plant,” he said. “These birds are humanely put down at the farm.”
The only time humans have contracted avian influenza from poultry is from direct contact with live birds, such as those living in the homes with families in southeastern Asia, he said.
Turkey is a year-round meat, Davis said, though a lot of it is consumed at Thanksgiving.
Turkey is “a very good protein source, just like chicken is,” he said. “It’s also very low in fat, so this is a good thing for consumers who are looking for a low-fat diet. Most whole turkeys will have about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat, so you have a good preference or choice for meats you want to use. It’s a low-fat, fairly low-cost way to feed your family.”
Davis said an estimated 265 million to 266 million turkeys will be produced in the U.S. this year.
“That’s usually around 7 billion to 7.5 billion pounds and $3.5 billion to the economy,” Davis said. Annual consumption of turkey is 16-17 pounds per person.
Very little turkey is produced in Texas because of the state’s hot summers, he said. The few farms the state does have are clustered around the one processing plant near Waco.
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