Deli turkey breast

Listed nutrients, per 100 g

For each nutrient, the value this page uses is marked “used”. A row marked “second database” is another database’s figure for a matching food, kept so you can see how far databases disagree (they can differ in the samples analysed, lab methods and rounding). Its own cells are worked out from it, but none of the page’s words or scores are.

Change the amount to rescale the first column. Nutrients a database doesn't list are missing, not zero.

Hazard rows as the dataset rates them

• Arsenic, all forms · Context · Context only (total arsenic; inorganic share not measured). · US FDA Total Diet Study (2018–2020) · A
• Cadmium · Nothing to watch: under the limit · A daily serving adds 1.2% to an average adult's cadmium intake (EFSA 2012 adult median, 1.77 µg/kg body weight/week; Canadian adults in 2007: 1.2-1.75), far from doubling it, so no cap. · US FDA Total Diet Study (2018–2020) · A
• Histamine · Nothing to watch: under the limit · No cap: the reference point is EFSA's 2011 level of 50 mg of histamine per meal. This is a related-food figure: EFSA's category 'other meat products' (cooked ham, mortadella-type sausages; no turkey), mean 4.4 mg/kg at the upper bound (3.9 lower bound) in 75 samples, 80% non-detects, maximum 212 mg/kg. A serving carries 0.242 mg. Eaten alone, about 11,364 g in one meal would reach 50 mg at the upper-bound mean, and 236 g at the maximum. · EFSA 2011 · B
• Lead · Nothing to watch: doesn’t double average intake · No cap: no safe limit is set for lead (EFSA 2010 benchmark dose lower limit (BMDL01) of 0.5 µg/kg body weight/day), so no grams figure is given. The FDA mean is 1.4 ppb across 3 composites (1 detect at 4.2 ppb, 2 non-detects counted as zero), so it is indicative only. A serving carries 0.077 µg, 0.22% of the 35 µg/day adult mean (EFSA 2012), well short of doubling it. · US FDA Total Diet Study (2018–2020) · A
• Listeria · Worth knowing · Flagged for pregnancy: Health Canada's pregnancy page lists 'Non-dried deli meats, such as bologna, roast beef and turkey breast' among foods to avoid unless heated until steaming hot. In a CFIA survey (2018-2021), Listeria monocytogenes was found in 2 of 1,285 deli meat samples (ham and pastrami) and in none of 1,275 chicken or turkey breast strips; sliced deli turkey is not a named category, so its own prevalence is not reported. · Health Canada 2025 · A
• Nickel · Nothing to watch: under the limit · No cap: EFSA's 2020 tolerable daily intake (TDI) for nickel is 13 µg/kg body weight/day, 910 µg a day. All 3 FDA composites were below the 40 ppb reporting limit, so there is no concentration to compute from and the grams figure is only bounded: above 22,750 g a day. For information, Health Canada's proxy for bologna and pastrami (not turkey) is 29.46 µg/kg (n 13) and 24.69 (n 3), pooled 28.6 µg/kg, which would give 31,856 g a day. · US FDA Total Diet Study (2018–2020) · B
• Nitrite · Nothing to watch: under the limit · No cap: EFSA's 2017 acceptable daily intake (ADI) for nitrite ion is 0.07 mg/kg body weight/day, 4.9 mg a day. Eaten alone, about 684 g a day would reach it; one 55 g serving carries 0.39 mg, 8% of the ADI. The figure is a pork-industry-funded US retail survey mean (7.16 ppm, 2008-09) for 'whole-muscle brine cured cooked' products, where placing deli turkey is inferred; uncured (celery-cured) turkey is not shown to carry less. Background intake from all sources (EFSA 2017: mean 0.03 mg/kg body weight/day in adults, 2.1 mg/day; high exposure 0.05, 3.5 mg/day) is shown, not subtracted. · Nationalporkboard 2009 · B
• Added phosphates · Not rated yet · Not rated: EFSA's 2019 group acceptable daily intake for phosphates is 40 mg/kg body weight/day as phosphorus, but the USDA listing's total phosphorus of 249 mg/100 g cannot be split into natural and added. A 55 g serving carries 137 mg total phosphorus, about 5% of 2,800 mg. Phosphate-injected deli turkey is the common case, and no measured added-phosphate level was found. · EFSA 2019 · C
• Processed meat (IARC classification) · Context · Context only. IARC's definition of processed meat covers poultry products ('most … contain pork or beef, but also … poultry'), yet the Q&A says the cancer risks of poultry as a meat 'were not evaluated'; the colorectal evidence is mostly red-meat products. · IARC 2015 · B
• Sodium · Context · Context (Health Canada chronic disease risk reduction intake (CDRR) 2,300 mg/day, adults 19-50). One 55 g serving = 494 mg = 21.5% of the CDRR. Low-salt deli turkey (usda-7046) lists 772 mg/100 g. · US food database (USDA SR Legacy) · C
• Tyramine · Worth knowing · Flagged for people taking monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) medicines, for whom 6 mg of tyramine per meal is the level of concern. This is a related-food figure: EFSA's 'other meat products' category (mean 16.2 mg/kg, 75 samples, maximum 292). For information, about 370 g at the mean, 90 g at the 95th percentile (67 mg/kg) and 21 g at the maximum would reach 6 mg. · EFSA 2011 · B

Oxalate, phytate and gut-tolerance measurements

• histamine: mean 3.9-4.4 mg/kg (lower bound-upper bound), n 75, P95 4.8, max 212; PROXY category 'other meat products (including cooked ham…)', not turkey mg/kg · as sold, fresh weight · cooked meat products, EU · grade B · EFSA 2011
• tyramine: mean 16.1-16.2 mg/kg, n 75, P95 67, max 292; PROXY category mg/kg · as sold, fresh weight · cooked meat products, EU · grade B · EFSA 2011

Sources

• Health Canada, Canadian Nutrient File 2026 (14th edition)
  cnf-2026 · dataset · Open Government Licence – Canada 2.0
• EFSA BIOHAZ Panel (2011) Scientific Opinion on risk based control of biogenic amine formation in fermented foods. EFSA Journal 9(10):2393 · doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2011.2393
  efsa-2011-histamine · secondary source · EFSA Journal: CC BY (not re-checked)
• EFSA FAF Panel, Re-evaluation of phosphoric acid-phosphates - di-, tri- and polyphosphates (E 338-341, E 343, E 450-452) as food additives and the safety of proposed extension of use, EFSA J 2019;17(6):5674 (PMC7009158) · doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5674 · PMID 32626329 · doi.org
  efsa-2019-phosphates · full text read · CC BY (EFSA)
• US FDA, Total Diet Study FY2018–FY2020 Elements Report Supplement
  fda-tds-fy2018-2020 · dataset · US government work (17 USC 105), public domain
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, 2018-04
  fdc-sr-legacy-2018-04 · dataset · CC0 1.0 (public domain)
• Health Canada, Safe food handling for pregnant people (published March 2025)
  hc-safe-food-pregnant-2025 · page · Government of Canada terms (Crown copyright; not OGL)
• IARC, Q&A on the carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat (2015)
  iarc-vol114-qa-2015 · full text read · IARC 2015, all rights reserved
• National Pork Board (Pork Checkoff), 'A National Survey of the Nitrite/Nitrate Concentrations in Cured Meat Products and Non-meat Foods Available at Retail' (Keeton, Texas A&M; completed 2009-08-04; project 08-124). Funder summary page of the survey behind Nuñez de González 2012.
  nationalporkboard-keeton-2009-nitrite · page · licence not recorded

Body map 2026-10-25.1: each nutrient’s job comes from an agency fact sheet, linked beside it under Good for.

The plain words: “a lot” means one serving (100 g when the food has no serving size) gives at least 20% of the daily amount (the reference intake), “some” at least 10%, “a little” at least 2% (the cut-offs are ours, one set for every page: 20% and 10% are borrowed from the US labelling terms “high” and “good source” and applied to Health Canada’s daily amount, whereas Health Canada’s own shopper rule says 15%; provisional: they may change in a later method version). The daily amount is Health Canada’s Dietary Reference Intake for adults 19–30; where men and women need different amounts we use the higher one (protein: 56 g for men, 46 g for women). The percentage printed under each nutrient is the printed amount as a share of that daily amount, rounded to the nearest whole number, and the word is read from that percentage, so the amount, the percentage and the word always agree. Calcium with a measured absorption is scaled by how well it gets in compared with milk.

The scale: “Nothing to watch” means a serving a day stays under the limit at ordinary amounts; “Go easy” means a serving a day can push past the limit for adults who already take in the most, or fewer than 2 servings reach it; “Limit it” means once a week or less. The dataset’s own rating is under “How we got this”. Provisional: the scale may change in a later method version.

Measured absorption under Good for: grade-A studies in adults that tested this preparation of this food, as a share of the listed amount (the share digested, for protein), quoted once each source has passed our evidence check; animal studies and other variants stay in the table above. Provisional: this screen may change in a later method version.