TURKEY

* The Food Safety and Inspection Service announced a change in the "Single Minimum Internal Temperature Established for Cooked Poultry". The new cooking recommendation is as follows:

"A whole turkey (and turkey parts) is safe when cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165°F as measured with a food thermometer. Check the internal temperature in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook turkey to higher temperatures."

This new cooking temperature is a change from previous 180°F for a whole turkey and 170°F for turkey breast. The single minimum internal temperature change to 165°F was recommended by the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) in a press release earlier this year. All turkey cooking recommendations for this website have been changed to reflect this update (11/06).

Read the press release in its entirety.

If your have further questions contact the USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-674-6854 TDY 800-246-7072 or send Email to: mphotline.fsis@usda.gov.

To talk to a food safety specialist call 1-888-674-6854 between 10 am and 4 pm eastern time and on Thanksgiving Day 10 to 2 pm eastern time.

Ask Karen is the FSIS automated response system, which is available 24/7. You can type in questions related to prevention of food borne illness, as well as safe handling, preparation, and storage of meat, poultry, and egg products, from an extensive database of food safety information www.fsis.usda.gov.

Let’s Talk Turkey

If you're not familiar with turkey and how it should be handled, please choose one (or all) of the turkey links in the "Recipes & Information box". Turkey takes very little time to prepare, is nutritious and delicious!

Turkey for the holidays; turkey for all occasions.

Turkey is low in fat and high in protein. It is an inexpensive source of iron, zinc, phosphorus, potassium and B vitamins. A serving of turkey is a 2 to 3-ounce cooked portion. The Food Guide Pyramid suggests 2 to 3 servings from the meat group each day.

The portions below represent 100 grams (approximately 3 1/2 ounces) of sliced meat from a whole roasted turkey.

A 3 1/2-ounce portion of turkey is about the size and thickness of a new deck of cards. The fat and calorie content varies because white meat has less fat and fewer calories than dark meat and skin. One gram of fat contains 9 calories, and one gram of protein contains 4 calories.