Clash of the bacons: Pork vs. turkey
Turkey bacon might not be as healthy as people think.
“Turkey bacon is an imitation,” said Dick Whittier, USU’s meat lab research manager. “There is no part in a turkey that can be made into bacon.”
Whittier oversees research conducted on products grown and made in Utah.
“We do very little poultry research here because we do not produce it here,” Whittier said about turkey bacon.
He said turkey bacon is mechanically made by taking turkey thigh meat and using machines to structure it to look like bacon.
“It’s like a hot dog; a ton of different meats put together,” he said.
It turns out turkey bacon may even contain some chicken, Whittier said.
Whittier said in terms of health, the best thing to do is “read the labels.” Jerrad Legako, a scientist and professor in the nutrition, dietetics, and food science department, said reading labels is important.
Whittier and Legako said there are some differences between the two bacons. There is more sodium in turkey bacon than regular bacon, and there are differences in fat content.
Fat in regular bacon is pure fat, while fat in turkey bacon is partly meat that has been mechanically separated from the bone and put in with the fat to hold everything together, Whittier said.
Whittier quoted Mark Twain and said there are two things people shouldn’t see being made: legislation and sausage.
Legako said there are other factors which contribute to one’s personal meat preference.
“I like the texture in traditional bacon,” Legako said.
However, not everyone likes bacon. Austin Derbique, a freshman majoring in computer engineering, is one of them.
“I don’t eat bacon,” Debrique said. “Just seeing it in its own fat is kind of disgusting.”
Others, like Bryson Burns, a freshman majoring in computer engineering, are not deterred by fat content.
“I am a big fan of thick, greasy, normal pig bacon,” Burns said. “Add a little bit of maple syrup to it, and it’s a meal fit for a king. The taste of that is reason enough for it to be my favorite breakfast food, no matter what time of day it is.”
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