Thanksgiving Turkey: Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Your Bird

What's In Your Thanksgiving Turkey?

This week HuffPost Live examined the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal, the Thanksgiving turkey. Once dubbed by Benjamin Franklin as the "Bird of Courage", today's Thanksgiving turkey is a bit different from the bird that Franklin knew.

Turkeys nowadays -- the ones that you find in the supermarket and on American tables -- are commonly pumped full of antibiotics and contain dangerous bacteria, according to Lance Price, director of the TGen Center for Food Microbiology and Environmental Health.

Price told HuffPost Live host Jacob Soboroff that of all the main U.S. commodity meats, turkey is by far the worst. "We find the highest level of contamination, different bacterial species that can cause disease, and we find the most multi-drug resistance to antibiotics," Price said.

If stuffing was the only thing inside your turkey you wanted to know about, we offer a sincere Thanksgiving apology. Enjoy your meal!

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