Deli Ham versus Sliced Turkey Breast

By: Tanya Taylor, PhD | Sep 14, 2006
3 stars

Ham and Turkey
A lot of people, myself included, choose turkey over other meats like chicken or pork, because it is supposed to have less calories. But, in my opinion, turkey tends to have less flavor than ham. This week, I decided to see how deli ham and sliced turkey would stack up against each other nutritionally. The contenders are: Healthy Choice Honey Ham vs. Oscar Mayer Thin Sliced Turkey Breast. The nutrition facts are below:

	Healthy Choice Honey Ham	Oscar Meyer Sliced Turkey Breast
Calories	60	60
Total Fat (% daily value)	2	2
Saturated Fat (% DV)	3	0
Cholesterol (% DV)	8	7
Sodium (% DV)	19	26
Total Carbohydrate (g)	2	2
Protein	9	9
Vitamins	none	none

So, it turns out that they are both about the same in nutrition, they are both plumped up with water, and both are high in sodium. I tend to prefer the taste of the honey ham, but turkey is pretty good too. At least now that I have the facts, I will choose based on what I am in the mood for or which is cheaper, and not because one is supposed to be better for you.
The rating below is for both products.

Comments

Thu: September 14, 2006
Colleen said:

I know, most lean meat is about the same, so I always get what I want. But I get the fresh kind that either straight from the deli counter or in packets next to it. It tastes much better for the same nutrition, and comes in a lot more varieties thatn just "smoked" "baked" and "honey/brown sugar cured". None of that big bran name stuff, like Oscar Myer.

Fri: September 15, 2006
cas said:

Most of what you get in those deli cases is just unsliced "big brand name stuff" anyway.

Sat: September 16, 2006
Carol said:

I get the sliced meat from the deli counter -- there's a choice between real turkey breast or ham...or the "lunch meat" turkey or ham, which is full of fat and other junk I don't want. Always go with the sliced real thing if you can.