Thread by @propublica

We asked readers to send us raw turkey pics so we could put them through our “chicken checker,” which shows salmonella rates at America’s poultry plants.

Here are their results. 👇

(We don’t say this often, but it’s actually good news)

Peg bought a “young” turkey at @WholeFoods in Bridgewater, NJ.

No high risk salmonella was found at the PA processing plant it came from in the past year.

Eli bought this turkey in Manhattan at a wholesaler called Baldor.

Here’s where it came from. No high risk salmonella to be found.

Ben bought a fresh turkey in Foggy Bottom, WA.

The PA plant it was processed at *also* had no high risk salmonella present in USDA’s tests.

Why bother writing a thread when all you have is ostensibly good news?

Glad you asked.

Whole turkey tends to have FAR less salmonella than ground turkey.

For example: Let’s take a look at this turkey Maria sent us.

Maria’s whole turkey came from Cargill Meat Solutions plant.

See the salmonella difference between whole (left) and ground (right) turkey?

AT THE SAME PLANT

Ground meat comes from many birds (hello cross contamination) and bits left in the grinder can taint multiple batches

Some context: Here’s what we found when we asked ProPublica employees to look up their own chicken and turkey products.

https://twitter.com/propublica/status/1454886464433659905?s=20

But back to Thanksgiving.

Here we have Barbara, who bought her turkey at Walmart in Camden, Delaware.

More good news: no high risk salmonella in sight!

Like Barbara, at least 45% percent of those who sent us pics had @Butterball turkeys.

They came from across the country; were bought at stores like Costco, Walmart and Target.

In the last 12 months, none of whole turkey samples at @Butterball’s Arkansas plant had salmonella.

The @USDA currently allows companies to sell salmonella-tainted meat to consumers. But that doesn’t mean you can’t protect yourself.

For example:

Salmonella dies at 165F, and the only way to know for sure if your poultry is cooked to the right temperature is to use a meat thermometer.

But! Salmonella bacteria can survive for hours on your counters and kitchens, and cross contamination is a huge source of illness.

Sydney picked up her Butterball turkey at Costco in Huntsville, AL (left). And Katie got hers at a Walmart in Rapid City, SD (right).

Remember: the Butterball plant hasn’t had salmonella show up in whole turkey samples in a year.

This is really important to note:

Though the USDA is not finding a lot of high-risk salmonella in whole turkeys, chicken is an entirely different story.

propublica.org/article/salmon…

If you find your poultry has high rates of Salmonella, you don’t need to throw it out. Just make sure you are taking proper precautions, like:

👉 Don't put cooked meat on the same plate it sat on raw

👉 If you touch raw meat, wash up before touching anything else

👉 Just wash your hands, counters, cutting boards, etc, a lot

Another thing to keep in mind:

If other foods come in contact with your raw meat, then they’re probably contaminated. It’s important to separate raw meat from any other food you serve!

Lastly: A lot of you have been rinsing your chicken and turkey. Well, that’s quite enough of that.

Rinsing poultry doesn’t make it cleaner, but does splash any bacteria on it all around your kitchen. It’s a major source of cross-contamination.

propublica.org/article/protec…

If you want to find out how often salmonella was found at the plant that processed your chicken or turkey, use this link. (definitely check your thanksgiving turkey!)

projects.propublica.org/chicken/

Thanksgiving is almost over, and chicken’s about to return to being America’s bird of choice. But we’re not finished reporting on salmonella and food safety.

Here’s how you can help:

Fill out our form to help us track salmonella through the supply chain.

We haven’t yet heard from enough people from these states especially. Help us out!

https://twitter.com/Ariana_Tobin/status/1462797639850807301

And last but not least, thank you to everyone who sent in Turkey pics! Our reporting team thanks you for your help and we all wish you a happy holiday.

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