Emu: lean red meat with almost no research behind it

A Cochrane review of 17 trials in 2034 women with joint pain from breast cancer drugs listed emu oil among six treatments whose 95% interval for pain relief did not include the minimal clinically important difference, so any relief was too small to matter clinically. The certainty was low to very low, emu oil came from a single study, and the review says nothing about eating emu. We found no study of emu meat as food. What exists is the US composition table. Raw ground emu lists 134 calories, 22.8 g protein, 4.0 g fat, 4.0 mg iron and 6.75 micrograms of vitamin B12 per 3.5 oz (100 g), from one record with no spread across samples. Across the 12 emu cuts in the table, B12 runs from 2.2 to 9.37 micrograms per 3.5 oz (100 g).

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• The US reference table lists raw ground emu at 134 calories, 22.8 g protein, 4.0 g fat, 4.0 mg iron and 6.75 ug vitamin B12 per 3.5 oz (100 g). — USDA SR Legacy food Emu, ground, raw (FDC 172832) (n = 1 record) Evidence E source
  Per 100 g: energy 134 calories, protein 22.77 g, fat 4.03 g (saturated 1.02 g), iron 4.02 mg, vitamin B12 6.75 ug, selenium 30.5 ug, cholesterol 69 mg

What a real portion looks like

• The US table sizes an emu patty at 117 g raw or 109 g cooked, while the US dietary survey has no emu food code at all. — USDA SR Legacy portion records for ground emu; USDA FNDDS 2021-2023 searched for emu (n = 2 records) Evidence E source
  1 patty 117 g raw, 109 g cooked, no FNDDS entry

What cooking and storage change

• In the US table, 4.8 oz (135.8 g) of raw ground emu pan-broils to a 109 g patty, keeping its vitamin B12 but losing roughly 45% of its folate. — USDA SR Legacy foods Emu, ground, raw (FDC 172832) and Emu, ground, cooked, pan-broiled (FDC 172833) (n = 2 records) Evidence E source
  Per patty: B12 about 9.2 ug raw vs 9.3 ug cooked, folate about 17.7 ug raw vs 9.8 ug cooked, per 3.5 oz (100 g) cooked iron 5.01 mg vs 4.02 mg raw because water is lost

Safety, limits and interactions

• Laboratory and animal tests found no genetic damage from emu oil and no body weight change after a single oral dose. — bacterial reverse mutation assay, chromosomal aberration assay, bone marrow micronucleus test and acute oral toxicity test in animals Evidence D source
  No increase in micronucleated erythrocytes up to 20 mL/kg, no body weight effect up to 19.3 mg/kg

What people believe that the data does not support

• A Cochrane review of trials on joint pain from breast cancer drugs listed emu oil, tested in a single study, among six treatments whose pain effect fell short of a clinically meaningful size. — women with early breast cancer on aromatase inhibitors, 17 RCTs, 2034 randomized participants, 13 treatment studies Evidence B source
  Emu oil among six treatments whose pain effect 95% CI excluded the minimal clinically important difference, certainty low to very low
• In a 22-patient randomized pilot trial, a gel combining emu oil with nicardipine and superoxide dismutase cut Peyronie's curvature by 40.8% over 6 months, so emu oil alone cannot be credited. — 22 men with acute phase Peyronie's disease, 3 months gel or placebo then 3 months gel for all (n = 22) Evidence B source
  Curvature -40.8% (P=0.0014), pain -85.7% (P=0.004) at 6 months with H-100, rash in 3 patients

The bottom line

Pan-broiling, by the same table, turns 4.8 oz (135.8 g) of raw ground emu into a 109 g patty. The B12 survives the pan, about 9.2 micrograms raw against 9.3 cooked. Folate drops by roughly 45%, from about 17.7 to 9.8 micrograms. These are calculations from one sample of each state. Iron per 3.5 oz (100 g) rises from 4.02 to 5.01 mg after cooking only because water is lost. The table also sizes a raw patty at 117 g, a figure it does not reconcile with the 135.8 g yield. The US dietary survey has no emu food code at all, so nobody tracks how much Americans eat. Emu oil is a separate product, and its evidence is thin. In a randomized pilot trial in 22 men with acute Peyronie's disease, a skin gel combining emu oil with nicardipine and superoxide dismutase cut penile curvature by 40.8% over 6 months, with a rash in three men. The gel mixed three ingredients, so the result cannot be credited to emu oil alone. Who should be careful. Laboratory and animal tests found no genetic damage from emu oil and no weight change after a single oral dose of up to 19.3 mg per kg. Those were acute tests, the species is not named, and no human safety data exist. We have no card on allergy, pregnancy, medicines or food safety for emu meat, and absence of data is not evidence that it is safe.

Sources

1. emu-r2-01 · food composition dataset
   Emu, ground, raw, FDC 172832 (SR Legacy): Energy 134 kcal, Protein 22.77 g, Total fat 4.03 g, Iron 4.02 mg, Vitamin B12 6.75 ug per 100 g
   USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, Emu, ground, raw, FDC 172832 · checked 2026-10-01
2. emu-r2-03 · food composition dataset
   Emu, ground, raw, FDC 172832: 1 patty 117 g; Emu, ground, cooked, pan-broiled, FDC 172833: 1 patty 109 g
   USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, Emu, ground, FDC 172832 and 172833 · checked 2026-10-01
3. emu-r2-02 · food composition dataset
   Emu, ground, cooked, pan-broiled, FDC 172833: 1 patty (yield from 135.8 g raw meat) 109 g; per 100 g Iron 5.01 mg, Vitamin B12 8.52 ug, Folate DFE 9 ug; Emu, ground, raw, FDC 172832: per 100 g Vitamin B12 6.75 ug, Folate DFE 13 ug
   USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, Emu, ground, raw (FDC 172832) and cooked, pan-broiled (FDC 172833) · checked 2026-10-01
4. emu-r2-06 · toxicology study
   In the bone marrow micronucleus test, emu oil up to 20 mL/kg showed no significant increase in the incidence of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes. Moreover, emu oil up to 19.3 mg/kg body weight did not affect body weight in an acute oral toxicity study.
   Nutrients, 2022 · checked 2026-10-01
5. emu-r2-04 · Cochrane systematic review
   Six studies showed a treatment effect with 95% CI that did not include an MCID (vitamin D, testosterone, omega-3 fatty acids, duloxetine, emu oil, cat's claw).
   Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2022 · checked 2026-10-01
6. emu-r2-05 · randomized controlled trial
   Safety and efficacy of topically applied gel H-100 composed of Nicardipine, superoxide dismutase and emu oil for treatment of acute phase Peyronie's disease (PD) was evaluated. ... H-100 showed significant improvement in all PD parameters at 6 months: mean stretched penile length increase (22.6%, P=0.0002), mean curvature reduction (40.8%, P=0.0014), and mean pain level reduction (85.7%, P=0.004).
   Int J Impot Res, 2016 · checked 2026-10-01