Turkey bacon: a salty processed meat with almost no research of its own

The number that matters on turkey bacon is sodium. A meta-analysis of 43 randomized trials of salt in the whole diet, run between 1983 and 2024, found blood pressure higher with more salt and lower with less, in a graded pattern across intake categories, though the study-level trend on a continuous scale was not significant. The USDA record for microwaved turkey bacon lists 2021 mg of sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g), from one record without sample spread, and brands differ widely. The US dietary survey weighs a medium cooked slice at 11 g and a thin one at 8 g, which recalculates to about 220 mg and 160 mg of sodium per slice. Even the record labeled low sodium holds 900 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g), measured on the raw product. Every health figure below is borrowed from a wider category. A scoping review of 525 poultry studies found no randomized trial of processed poultry and only 1 percent of observational studies looking at it.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

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

How much is actually in it

• Microwaved turkey bacon in the USDA record carries 2021 mg of sodium, 29.5 g of protein and 25.9 g of fat per 3.5 oz (100 g). — USDA SR Legacy record for microwaved turkey bacon (n = 1 record) Evidence E source
  Energy 368 calories, protein 29.5 g, fat 25.87 g, saturated fat 6.93 g, sodium 2021 mg, cholesterol 153 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g)

What a real portion looks like

• The US dietary survey counts a medium cooked slice of turkey bacon as 11 g and a thin one as 8 g, about 220 mg and 160 mg of sodium on the microwaved USDA record. — FNDDS portion records for Turkey bacon, cooked (n = 6 portion records) Evidence E source
  Thin slice 8 g, medium slice 11 g, thick slice 14 g, 1 oz cooked 28 g

What cooking and storage change

• Cooking concentrates turkey bacon: the USDA raw record lists 1069 mg of sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g), the microwaved one 2021 mg, as water falls from 62 g to 34 g. — USDA SR Legacy records for unprepared and for microwaved turkey bacon (n = 2 records) Evidence E source
  Sodium 1069 vs 2021 mg, water 61.83 vs 34.46 g, energy 226 vs 368 calories per 3.5 oz (100 g)

What it does to your health

• Pooling 31 cohorts and nearly 2 million adults, each 50 g a day of processed meat went with a 15% higher incidence of type 2 diabetes. — 1 966 444 adults in 31 cohorts from 20 countries, median follow-up 10 years (n = 1966444) Evidence C source
  HR 1.15 (95% CI 1.11 to 1.20) per 50 g/day processed meat, HR 1.08 (1.02 to 1.14) per 100 g/day poultry
• The WCRF update of 111 cohorts found colorectal cancer risk 12% higher per 3.5 oz (100 g) a day of red and processed meat, and no link for poultry. — 111 cohort studies, about 400 study estimates (n = 111 cohorts) Evidence C source
  RR +12% (95% CI 4% to 21%) per 100 g/day red and processed meat, poultry not associated
• In UK Biobank, taking saturated fat from unprocessed poultry instead of processed poultry went with 39% lower cardiovascular risk over 10.5 years. — 120 496 UK Biobank adults without cardiovascular disease, median follow-up 10.5 years (n = 120496) Evidence C source
  HR 0.61 (95% CI 0.40 to 0.93) substituting SFA from processed poultry with unprocessed poultry, HR 0.58 (0.38 to 0.87) with yogurt
• In a crossover RCT of 20 healthy men, replacing 240 g a day of red and processed meat with mycoprotein for 14 days cut LDL cholesterol by 12.3%. — 20 metabolically healthy men, two 14 day diet periods (n = 20) Evidence B source
  LDL -12.3% (P = 0.02), total cholesterol -6.74% (P = 0.02), no change in urinary sodium or nitrite

Safety, limits and interactions

• Across 43 randomized trials, blood pressure fell step by step as salt intake dropped from above 15 g a day to below 5 g a day. — Participants of 43 randomized controlled trials, 1983 to 2024 (n = 43 trials) Evidence A source
  Graded association across high, moderate and low intake categories, study-level continuous trend not significant

What people believe that the data does not support

• Even the USDA record labeled low sodium turkey bacon holds 900 mg of sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g). — USDA SR Legacy record for low sodium turkey bacon (n = 1 record) Evidence E source
  Sodium 900 mg, saturated fat 6.67 g, energy 253 calories per 3.5 oz (100 g)
• The Nordic Nutrition Recommendations review counts processed meat, explicitly including processed poultry, as a probable risk factor for cardiovascular death and stroke. — Systematic reviews and meta-analyses on meat and chronic disease assessed for Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 Evidence C source
  Processed meat including processed poultry: probable risk factor for CVD mortality and stroke, strong evidence for colorectal cancer

What is still unknown

• In an Israeli cohort of 27 754 adults, where much processed meat is poultry, processed meat showed no link with colorectal cancer, HR 0.93 per 50 g a day. — 27 754 Israeli adults from seven nutrition studies linked to cancer registries up to 2016 (n = 27754) Evidence C source
  HR 0.93 (0.76 to 1.12) per 50 g/day processed meat, beef HR 1.46 (1.06 to 2.02) per 100 g/day
• A scoping review of 525 poultry studies found no randomized trial of processed poultry and only 1% of observational studies looking at it. — 525 articles on poultry intake and human health out of 13 141 screened (n = 525 articles) Evidence C source
  0 RCTs on processed poultry, about 1% of observational studies

The bottom line

Cooking concentrates what is already there. The raw USDA record lists 1069 mg of sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g) and the microwaved one 2021 mg, as water falls from 62 g to 34 g. Per slice the sodium stays about the same while the slice shrinks, and the two records may come from different products. In most studies turkey bacon disappears into processed meat. Pooling 31 cohorts and nearly 2 million adults, each 50 g a day of processed meat went with a 15 percent higher incidence of type 2 diabetes (HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.20). That is observational, and the processed meat there was mostly red. The WCRF analysis of 111 cohorts linked each 100 g a day of red and processed meat to 12 percent more colorectal cancer (95% CI 4 to 21 percent) and found no link for poultry, which leaves processed poultry somewhere between. In an Israeli cohort of 27 754 adults, where much processed meat is poultry, processed meat showed no link with colorectal cancer (HR 0.93 per 50 g a day, 0.76 to 1.12). The authors only suggest poultry explains that, since they never analyzed it on its own. Whether turkey bacon is the lighter bacon has not been tested directly. The review behind the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations counts processed meat, explicitly including processed poultry, as a probable risk factor for cardiovascular death and stroke, drawing on reviews its authors rated critically low in quality on average. In UK Biobank, a model swapping saturated fat from processed poultry to unprocessed poultry went with 39 percent lower cardiovascular risk over 10.5 years (HR 0.61, 0.40 to 0.93), a substitution in observational data that the authors say does not prove cause. In a crossover trial of 20 healthy men, replacing red and processed meat with mycoprotein for 14 days cut LDL cholesterol by 12.3 percent. The meat they gave up was red and processed, so the trial bounds the category and never tested turkey bacon. The caution most directly tied to this food's own numbers is salt, which matters most for anyone keeping blood pressure down. We have no card on nitrite levels in turkey bacon, on pregnancy, on children or on medicines.

Compared with other foods

Sources

1. tkbc-r6-01 · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, dataset
   Bacon, turkey, microwaved (FDC 171639): energy 368 kcal; protein 29.5 g; fat 25.87 g; saturated fat 6.933 g; sodium 2021 mg; cholesterol 153 mg; vitamin B12 1.88 ug per 100 g; 1 slice = 8.1 g
   USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 2019, FDC 171639 · checked 2026-09-29
2. tkbc-r6-04 · USDA FNDDS, dataset
   Turkey bacon, cooked (FNDDS 24208500, FDC 2706135): 1 thin slice (yield after cooking) = 8 g; 1 medium slice (yield after cooking) = 11 g; 1 thick slice (yield after cooking) = 14 g; 1 oz, cooked = 28 g
   USDA FNDDS, food code 24208500, FDC 2706135 · checked 2026-09-29
3. tkbc-r6-02 · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, dataset
   Bacon, turkey, unprepared (FDC 174592): sodium 1069 mg; water 61.83 g; energy 226 kcal per 100 g. Bacon, turkey, microwaved (FDC 171639): sodium 2021 mg; water 34.46 g; energy 368 kcal per 100 g
   USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 2019, FDC 174592 and 171639 · checked 2026-09-29
4. tkbc-r6-06 · meta-analysis of cohort studies
   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
5. tkbc-r6-07 · meta-analysis of cohort studies
   Overall, the risk increase of colorectal cancer is 12% for each 100 g/day increase of red and processed meat intake (95% CI = 4-21%, I2=70%, pheterogeneity (ph)<0.01)...Intakes of fruits, coffee, tea, cheese, poultry and legumes were not associated with colorectal cancer risk.
   Ann Oncol, 2017 · checked 2026-09-29
6. tkbc-r6-10 · cohort study
   Strong inverse associations were found for the substitution of SFA from processed poultry with milk (HR, 0.67 [95% CI, 0.45-0.99), yogurt (HR, 0.58 [95% CI, 0.38-0.87), and cheese (HR, 0.64 [95% CI, 0.43-0.94) and for the substitution of SFA from processed total or poultry with unprocessed total (HR, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.76-0.98) or poultry meats (HR, 0.61 [95% CI, 0.40-0.93), respectively.
   J Am Heart Assoc, 2025 · checked 2026-09-29
7. tkbc-r6-11 · crossover RCT
   Mycoprotein consumption led to a 6.74% reduction in total cholesterol (P = 0.02) and 12.3% reduction in LDL cholesterol (P = 0.02) from baseline values.
   Eur J Nutr, 2023 · checked 2026-09-29
8. tkbc-r6-05 · meta-analysis of RCTs
   Across 43 randomized controlled trials (1983-2024), higher amounts of salt intake were associated with higher BP, whereas lower intake was associated with larger BP reductions, demonstrating a graded association across intake categories.
   Nutr Rev, 2026 · checked 2026-09-29
9. tkbc-r6-03 · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, dataset
   Bacon, turkey, low sodium (FDC 171640): sodium 900 mg; saturated fat 6.667 g; energy 253 kcal per 100 g; 1 serving = 15 g
   USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 2019, FDC 171640 · checked 2026-09-29
10. tkbc-r6-08 · scoping review
    The evidence suggests that both unprocessed red meat and processed meat (also including processed poultry meat) are probable risk factors for CVD mortality and stroke, and that total red meat and processed meat are risk factors for CHD.
    Food Nutr Res, 2024 · checked 2026-09-29
11. tkbc-r6-09 · cohort study
    While beef consumption was associated with gastrointestinal/CRC excess risk, poultry consumption was not. A substantial part of processed meat consumption in Israel is processed poultry, perhaps explaining the lack of association with CRC.
    Int J Cancer, 2024 · checked 2026-09-29
12. tkbc-r6-12 · scoping review
    No randomized controlled trials and only 1% of OBS assessed the influence of processed poultry intake on human health.
    Adv Nutr, 2022 · checked 2026-09-29