I was at Trader Joe’s for the afternoon…I’m probably the only fruit loop who can spend an hour looking at every item on a grocery store shelf and enjoy it! Then, make for second rounds to see what I missed. :D Anyhow, I do all this because I like to read the labels and see what is really in these items. In my head, I was thinking that homemade tacos sounded fantastic! As I was perusing their choices of ground beef, I reached for the 92/8 ground beef (8% fat), which is my usual. Then, that little voice in my head reminded me of that well-known tactic that ground turkey is a better, lower-fat substitute.
I was already in label-reading mode, so I continued right on…only to find out that the 92/8 beef and 93/7 Turkey have comparably the same amount of calories and saturated fats. Trying to debunk the theory, I realized that the comparison must be made in general between ground turkey (always 93/7) and ground chuck, 80/20. I believe my mother raised me on 80/20, so I’m sure for many people, it’s a common purchase. So, if you’re looking for “low-fat” ground meat options, go with lean beef and you’ll be doing the same thing. However, if it’s red meat you’re trying to avoid, ground turkey makes a fine substitute!