Turkey Twizzlers

The Royal College of Physicians’ report on diet and heart disease in 1976 encouraged us to eat white meat in place of red on the grounds that it contains less saturated fat and is therefore less damaging. And boy, did it work, with poultry consumption in the UK having nearly trebled since the 1960s, with sales of pork, lamb and beef declining. Recent fears over food poisoning, dubious foreign imports and chicken meat pumped up with beef protein and water have knocked sales a bit but the bird’s reputation as healthy remains largely untarnished.

Booming sales for white meat has brought with it intensive poultry production – turkeys as well as chickens and even farmed salmon. And a third of the 20 million turkeys killed each year in the UK die at Christmas.

Selectively bred to gain maximum weight in the minimum time, chickens reach slaughter size almost twice as quickly as they did 40 years ago. Forget about birds scratching around in the open air for insects, seeds and plants – it’s commercially-grown cereal, high energy and genetically modified foods in boring pellet form that predominate – plus, of course, a heavy  sprinkling of antibiotics and other drugs to control bacteria, parasites, worms and fungi. And a few other antibiotics as growth promoters.

Turkey Untwizzled

Ask the British Turkey Information Board what makes this bird a good food choice and their stock response is always that it’s one of the lowest-fat meats around. The Food Standards Agency isn’t impressed, it seems, as it reckons meat is a major source of the most unhealthy fat – the saturated type. In fact, meat and meat products, including turkey and chicken in all their guises, are the leading source of fat in our diet, including equally unhealthy trans fats.

Just as in chicken, around a third of the fat in turkey is saturated – the kind that raises bad cholesterol which can end up being dumped on artery walls, reducing blood flow and increasing heart attacks and strokes. Britain tops the European league for heart deaths and around 70 per cent of Brits have cholesterol above the recommended levels. Not surprising then that the British Medical Association reckoned, as long ago as 1986, that levels tend to be lower in vegetarians. It also said that levels can be lowered simply by switching to a vegetarian diet.

Professor Michael Crawford, of London Metropolitan University, took another swipe at the white meat myth when he found that chicken contains as much fat, gram for gram, as a Big Mac. He analysed chicken thigh meat from several supermarkets – even organic suppliers – and found they contain more than twice as much fat as they did back in 1940, a third more calories and a third less protein. Someone eating a 100 gram portion of chicken would get 154 kilocalories from fat and only 74 from protein. And this wasn’t the breadcrumbed type of chicken, which contains oodles more fat.

Even organic chickens didn’t do that well, containing only slightly less fat than protein – probably because despite having more space than factory-farmed chickens, they’re on the same regime of high-energy feed, little exercise and breeding for rapid weight gain. Says Prof Crawford: “This focus on rapid growth has changed the lipid (fat) composition of the chicken meat itself, and you cannot escape that – even by removing the skin and scraping away the subcutaneous fat stuck to the meat.”

Bootiful Bernie

Ask Bernard Matthews what makes his turkeys so ‘bootiful’ and he’ll likely refer you to Dr Steven Pratt’s book, Superfoods: 14 Foods that will Change Your Life. You’ve guessed it, turkey makes the top 14, along with tomatoes, broccoli, beans, blueberries, tea, oats, pumpkin, yoghurt, walnuts, spinach, salmon, soya and oranges.

Dr Pratt opts for the ‘leanest meat source of protein’ stance but with more qualifications than a university – eat skinless breast meat only and no more than three to four servings a week, don’t buy self-basting birds as they may contain damaging ‘partially hydrogenated oils’ and only eat ground turkey that’s labelled 99 per cent fat free!

Even those who have the discipline to stick to the 3-4 ounce cautionary portion limit – about the size of a pack of cards – will be scoffing a whopping 100 milligrams of cholesterol with each portion along with a scattering of harmful trans fatty acids.

While metaphorically patting turkey protein on the back with one hand Dr Pratt assassinates it with the other, cautioning against too much animal protein. Excess can lead to a loss of calcium and an increased risk of osteoporosis and kidney damage.What’s enough? A meager 45 to 55.5 grams a day and you don’t need to eat any meat to achieve it, there’s plenty in plant foods.

Professor Colin Campbell, Cornell University, backs this up at length in his book The China Study. In fact, he cites a wealth of research linking animal protein with more nasties, such as raised blood cholesterol levels, heart disease and increased production of the hormone insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) – which is thought to boost the growth of cancer cells.

Despite these hazards, Dr Pratt’s support for white meat is based on it containing some vitamins and minerals, such as niacin, vitamins B6 and B12, iron, selenium and zinc. But it’s certainly got no monopoly on them. Mixed nuts, cereal grains, yeast extracts, vegetables and fruits are all useful sources of these nutrients but without the potential for harmful side effects. It’s even been shown that B12 in fortified foods such as breakfast cereals are more easily absorbed than B12 in meat, poultry and fish – particularly for the elderly. The National Academy of Sciences in the US advises adults aged 50 and over to obtain most of their B12 from fortified foods. It’s pretty good advice for younger adults as well.

A Veggie Merry Christmas!

Amanda Woodvine

Amanda Woodvine is a former consultant nutritionist for Viva! Health. She specialises in areas such as nutrition for older adults, cardiovascular disease and obesity. 

She authored a number of guides and reports for the Viva! Health, including White Meat Black Mark – a scientific report investigating the health consequences of consuming white meat. Amanda studied postgraduate public health with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.

View author page | View staff profile