Ground turkey: no cholesterol advantage over beef, and cook it through

People swap beef for ground turkey to protect their cholesterol. A meta-analysis of 8 randomized trials with 406 adults free of chronic disease found LDL cholesterol fell by 8.2 mg/dL on beef and by 8.9 mg/dL on poultry or fish, a gap that was nowhere near significant (P = .905). Those trials pooled poultry with fish and used lean cuts. In a randomized trial in 113 healthy adults who ate each diet for 4 weeks, white meat raised LDL cholesterol and apoB as much as red meat did, and both raised them more than plant protein. The white meat in that trial is not split into chicken and turkey. The lean label also needs checking. Raw 93 percent lean ground turkey measured 9.6 g of fat per 3.5 oz (100 g) on average across 8 US samples, and one sample reached 14.6 g.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

As people eat it, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• At one plant, Salmonella was in 42% of turkey neck skin samples and 14.5% of ground turkey samples. — 300 samples per part from 20 flocks at a commercial plant (n = 20 flocks) Evidence C source
  Neck skin 42.0%, drumstick bone 9.3%, spleen 6.7%, ground turkey 14.5%
• Turkey skin is used as the fat source in ground turkey, and Salmonella was on 13.7-25% of skin samples. — 300 samples per turkey part from 20 high-risk flocks (n = 20 flocks) Evidence C source
  Drumstick skin 13.7%, thigh 19.7%, wing 25.0%
• Raw 93% lean ground turkey measured 9.6 g fat per 3.5 oz (100 g) on average, ranging 7.75-14.58 g across 8 samples. — 8 US retail samples, Foundation Foods (n = 8 samples) Evidence E source
  Per 100 g: fat 9.591 g (7.75-14.58), protein 17.34 g (16.56-18.19), sodium 80.18 mg (69.4-94.6), zinc 2.95 mg (2.43-3.37), iron 1.087 mg

What a real portion looks like

• US survey portions for cooked ground turkey: a patty is 60 g, a cup 130 g, and a default serving 3 oz (85 g). — US household measures, FNDDS (n = 1 food code) Evidence E source
  1 patty 60 g; 1 cup cooked 130 g; 1 oz cooked 28 g; quantity not specified 85 g

What cooking and storage change

• After a 3-minute USDA video, 75% of home cooks checked turkey patties with a thermometer versus 34% without it. — 383 adults cooking turkey burgers in test kitchens, North Carolina (n = 383) Evidence B source
  Thermometer use 75% vs 34%; correct placement 52% vs 23%
• Salmonella was found in 26% of ground turkey lots tested at meal preparation, and undercooking was one of the factors that changed illness risk. — 100 samples of ground turkey at meal preparation, risk model (n = 100) Evidence C source
  Prevalence 26% per 25 g; median 0.185 log per 25 g; risk driven by number, virulence, undercooking
• A US risk model found that moving from 0% to 100% of ground turkey portions fully cooked cut illness risk tenfold. — simulated 30,000 lots of US raw ground turkey, FSIS data 2010-2016 Evidence D source
  Risk down one order of magnitude from 0% to 100% full cooking; model assumed 31.7% of portions undercooked
• Pan-broiling concentrates 93% lean ground turkey to about 27 g protein per 3.5 oz (100 g), up from 17 g raw, as water cooks off. — US retail samples, Foundation Foods (n = 4 samples) Evidence E source
  Protein 27.1 g/100 g cooked (25.6-29.0) vs 17.34 g raw; iron 1.56 mg, niacin 8.09 mg cooked

What it does to your health

• In 113 adults eating each diet for 4 weeks, white meat raised LDL cholesterol as much as red meat, and both more than plant protein. — healthy men and women 21-65 y, BMI 20-35, 4-week diets in random order, high or low saturated fat arm (n = 113) Evidence B source
  LDL and apoB higher with red and white meat than nonmeat (P < 0.0001); no significant difference between red and white meat
• Pooled data from 31 cohorts linked each extra 100 g a day of poultry with 8% higher type 2 diabetes risk, a weaker link than for red or processed meat. — 1,966,444 adults, 31 cohorts in 20 countries, median follow-up 10 years (n = 1966444) Evidence C source
  HR 1.08 (1.02-1.14) per 100 g/day poultry vs 1.10 red meat per 3.5 oz (100 g), 1.15 processed per 50 g

Safety, limits and interactions

• In Puerto Rico retail meat, ground turkey had the highest Salmonella rate, 19% of samples. — 475 retail raw meat samples incl. 121 ground turkey, Puerto Rico, 2022-2023 (n = 475) Evidence C source
  Ground turkey 19% positive (p = 0.006) vs 11% overall
• A 2024 study of federal verification data put average Salmonella prevalence in ground turkey at 15.9% for 2016-2022. — federal verification program data 2016-2022 plus sampling of 22 turkey flocks (n = 22 flocks) Evidence C source
  Average prevalence 15.9%; 5.5% of salmonellosis cases linked to turkey
• In Indiana retail testing, ground turkey yielded 5 Salmonella isolates, including a strain resistant to multiple drugs. — 200 retail ground meat samples (turkey, beef, pork), Indiana, 2022-2024 (n = 200) Evidence C source
  5 isolates from ground turkey vs 2 pork, 1 beef; one multidrug-resistant S. Infantis
• USDA FSIS advises cooking ground turkey and other ground poultry to 165 °F (74 °C), measured with a food thermometer throughout the patty, because color does not show that the meat is safe. — consumers cooking ground poultry, USA Evidence E source
  165 °F for ground poultry; color not a safe indicator
• USDA FSIS advises against washing raw ground turkey before cooking, because bacteria in raw poultry juices can spread to other foods, utensils and surfaces. — US consumers handling raw poultry at home Evidence E source
  Washing raw poultry before cooking is not recommended; it spreads bacteria from poultry juices to other foods, utensils and surfaces

What people believe that the data does not support

• A meta-analysis of 8 RCTs with 406 people found LDL fell by 8.2 mg/dL on beef and 8.9 mg/dL on poultry or fish, no real difference. — 8 RCTs, 406 subjects free of chronic disease (n = 406) Evidence A source
  LDL -8.2 vs -8.9 mg/dL (P = .905); total cholesterol -8.1 vs -6.2 (P = .630)

Who this works differently for

• For anyone serving ground turkey, CDC names people 65 and older, children under 5, people with weakened immune systems and pregnant women as the groups at higher risk of food poisoning, and children under 5 are three times more likely to be hospitalized if they get a Salmonella infection. — people 65 and older, children under 5, people with weakened immune systems, pregnant women Evidence E source
  Children under 5 three times more likely to be hospitalized with Salmonella infection

The bottom line

Raw 93 percent lean turkey holds about 17 g of protein per 3.5 oz (100 g), and pan broiling raises that to about 27 g because water cooks off. A patty in the US survey weighs 2.1 oz (60 g) and a default serving 3 oz (85 g). Pooled data from 31 cohorts with nearly 2 million adults linked each extra 3.5 oz (100 g) of poultry a day with 8 percent higher risk of type 2 diabetes (hazard ratio 1.08, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.14), a weaker link than for red or processed meat. That is observational, and the poultry result grew weaker under the authors' alternative models. Who should be careful. Everything we have under safety is about Salmonella. Federal testing put the average share of ground turkey carrying it at 15.9 percent for 2016 to 2022, and in that industry sampling a third of the positive screens could not be confirmed by culture. In Puerto Rico, 19 percent of retail ground turkey samples were positive, the highest of the meats tested. In Indiana, ground turkey gave 5 Salmonella isolates, one of them resistant to several drugs. Turkey skin is the fat source in the mix, and at one plant 42 percent of neck skin samples carried the bacteria. A US risk model found that cooking every portion fully cut illness risk tenfold compared with cooking none fully, a modeled figure that rests on its assumptions. After a 3 minute USDA video, 75 percent of 383 home cooks checked turkey patties with a thermometer, against 34 percent who did not see it. USDA FSIS puts the safe internal temperature for ground turkey and other ground poultry at 165 °F (74 °C), read with a food thermometer throughout the patty, because color does not show that the meat is safe. FSIS also advises against washing raw ground turkey, since its juices can carry bacteria to other foods, utensils and surfaces. CDC names people 65 and older, children under 5, people with weakened immune systems and pregnant women as the groups at higher risk of food poisoning, and children under 5 are three times more likely to be hospitalized with a Salmonella infection. We have no card on allergy or drug interactions for ground turkey, and that gap is not a sign of safety.

Compared with other foods

Sources

1. grtk-r6-09 · prevalence study
   The overall Salmonella prevalence in neck skin, drumstick bone, spleen, and ground turkey samples was 42.0, 9.3, 6.7, and 14.5%, respectively.
   J Food Prot, 2015 · checked 2026-09-29
2. grtk-r6-10 · prevalence study
   Turkey skin is used as a source of fat in finished ground turkey products. Salmonella-contaminated skin may potentially disseminate this pathogen to ground turkey.
   J Food Prot, 2016 · checked 2026-09-29
3. grtk-r6-12 · reference dataset
   FDC 2514747 Turkey, ground, 93% lean/ 7% fat, raw: Total lipid (fat) 9.591 g/100 g (7.75-14.58, n=8) · Protein 17.34 g (16.56-18.19) · Sodium 80.18 mg (69.4-94.6) · Zinc 2.95 mg (2.43-3.37) · Iron 1.087 mg (0.972-1.33)
   USDA FoodData Central Foundation Foods, release 2026-04-30, FDC 2514747 Turkey, ground, 93% lean/7% fat, raw · checked 2026-09-29
4. grtk-r6-14 · reference dataset
   FNDDS 2706133 Turkey, ground (24207000): 1 cup, cooked 130 g · 1 patty 60 g · 1 oz, cooked 28 g · Quantity not specified 85 g
   USDA FNDDS 2021-2023, food code 24207000 (Turkey, ground) · checked 2026-09-29
5. grtk-r6-03 · randomized behavioral experiment
   Participants who viewed the video were twice as likely to use a thermometer to check the doneness of the turkey patties compared with the participants who were not exposed to the video (75 versus 34%) and twice as likely to place the thermometer in the correct location (52 versus 23%).
   J Food Prot, 2020 · checked 2026-09-29
6. grtk-r6-07 · risk assessment
   Salmonella prevalence was 26% (n = 100) per 25 g of ground turkey, whereas Salmonella number ranged from 0 to 1.603 with a median of 0.185 log per 25 g. Risk of salmonellosis (total arbitrary units (AU) per lot) was affected (p ≤ 0.05) by Salmonella prevalence, number, and virulence, by incidence and extent of undercooking
   Risk Anal, 2021 · checked 2026-09-29
7. grtk-r6-08 · risk model
   When the percent of portions undergoing full cooking (complete elimination of Salmonella) was increased incrementally from 0% to 100%, both mean and median risk decreased linearly by one order of magnitude in both baseline and intervention scenarios.
   Risk Anal, 2021 · checked 2026-09-29
8. grtk-r6-13 · reference dataset
   Turkey, ground, 93% lean, 7% fat, pan-broiled: Protein 27.1 g/100 g (25.6-29.0) · Iron 1.56 mg (1.35-1.76, n=4) · Niacin 8.09 mg (7.22-9.07, n=4)
   USDA FoodData Central Foundation Foods, release 2026-04-30, Turkey, ground, 93% lean, 7% fat, pan-broiled · checked 2026-09-29
9. grtk-r6-01 · randomized controlled trial
   LDL cholesterol and apoB were higher with red and white meat than with nonmeat, independent of SFA content (P < 0.0001 for all, except apoB: red meat compared with nonmeat [P = 0.0004]). This was due primarily to increases in large LDL particles, whereas small + medium LDL and total/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were unaffected by protein source (P = 0.10 and P = 0.51, respectively). Primary outcomes did not differ significantly between red and white meat.
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2019 · checked 2026-09-29
10. grtk-r6-11 · pooled cohort analysis
    Greater consumption of each of the three types of meat was associated with increased incidence of type 2 diabetes, with HRs of 1·10 (95% CI 1·06-1·15) per 100 g/day of unprocessed red meat (I2=61%), 1·15 (1·11-1·20) per 50 g/day of processed meat (I2=59%), and 1·08 (1·02-1·14) per 100 g/day of poultry (I2=68%).
    Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, 2024 · checked 2026-09-29
11. grtk-r6-04 · prevalence survey
    ground turkey had the highest NTS prevalence (19%; p = 0.006, α = 0.05), which was significantly higher compared to other meats.
    J Food Prot, 2025 · checked 2026-09-29
12. grtk-r6-05 · prevalence study
    In objective 1, USDA-FSIS data show the average Salmonella prevalence in ground turkey from 2016 to 2022 was 15.9%, and that the leading serovar changes frequently.
    J Food Prot, 2024 · checked 2026-09-29
13. grtk-r6-06 · prevalence survey
    Five Salmonella isolates were recovered from ground turkey - including a multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis, and serovars Reading and Litchfield.
    J Food Prot, 2026 · checked 2026-09-29
14. sf-fsis-r4-6 · agency advice
    FSIS recommends cooking whole poultry to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F as measured using a food thermometer...Cook ground poultry to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F as measured with a food thermometer....Ground beef may turn brown before it has reached a temperature at which bacteria are destroyed....A hamburger cooked to 160 °F (165 °F for ground poultry), measured with a food thermometer throughout the patty...is safe — regardless of color.
    USDA FSIS, Doneness Versus Safety · checked 2026-10-08
15. sf-poultrywash-gturkey-1 · agency advice
    Washing raw poultry before cooking is not recommended because bacteria in raw meat and poultry juices can be spread to other foods, utensils, and surfaces.
    Chicken from Farm to Table, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service · checked 2026-10-08
16. grtk-r6-02 · meta-analysis
    Relative to the baseline diet, mean ± standard error changes (in mg/dL) after beef versus poultry/fish consumption, respectively, were -8.1 ± 2.8 vs. -6.2 ± 3.1 for total cholesterol (P = .630), -8.2 ± 4.2 vs. -8.9 ± 4.4 for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = .905)
    J Clin Lipidol, 2012 · checked 2026-09-29
17. sf-hrg-6 · agency advice
    Higher risk groups include people who are 65 and older, children under 5, people with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women. ... Children younger than 5 are three times more likely to be hospitalized if they get a Salmonella infection.
    U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, People at Increased Risk for Food Poisoning (2025) · checked 2026-10-08