Thanksgiving Food Preparation

Key findings

• 28.7m turkeys could contaminate Thanksgiving meals this year because people are washing meat against USDA advice
• Turkey trouble: Despite USDA warnings not to, 62.3% of Americans always wash their meat before cooking, and 67.4% consider this normal
• Fishy behavior: despite health advice not to wash fish before cooking, 65% wash fish before cooking and 83.3% think this is normal
• Sticking to tradition, 89.5% of Americans are preparing at least one meat dish this Thanksgiving
• One in five Americans don’t wash their hands each time before cooking
• Too many cooks in the kitchen? 92% of people claim to be cooking or helping prep Thanksgiving meals
• Over 65s most likely to be missing out on the Thanksgiving festivities

Against USDA advice, 62.3% of Americans wash their meat before cooking

The average cost of a Thanksgiving meal last year was $64.05 – a 20% increase from the year before. The turkey centerpiece accounts for almost half of this cost at $28.96 for a 16-pound bird. Despite the expense, 89.5% of Americans are preparing at least one meat dish this Thanksgiving – considering that around 46 million turkeys are consumed on Thanksgiving, this means that 28,658,000 turkeys pose an increased risk of contamination. Poultry is the number one cause of foodborne illnesses in the US, and so the centerpiece turkey is one of the likeliest culprits to make you sick.

Although it is common and advised to wash vegetables before cooking (with 81% of respondents always washing vegetables before cooking) the USDA warns that washing turkeys before cooking actually increases the chances of food poisoning. However, the survey reveals that almost two-thirds (62.3%) of people always wash their meat before cooking – with a further 14.7% sometimes washing meat before cooking.

Even fewer Americans are aware that washing fish also increases the risk of cross-contamination of foodborne illnesses. Over half (65%) of Americans said that they wash fish before cooking it – despite this also increasing the likelihood of spreading infectious diseases around the kitchen. More concerningly, 83.3% of people think it’s normal to do so.

More than a quarter of Americans wash their meat due to concerns over where it’s come from

People wash meat for various reasons, but the most common is to 'wash off unpleasant bits', with 52.9% of people citing this as their main concern. Other popular reasons were to clean off any meat juices (33.9%), and concerns to where it had been before purchasing it (27.3%).

A quarter of Americans reported that they wash their meat due to concerns over where it comes from. This is not surprising considering that research by the Pew Center suggests that half of Americans are concerned about the consequences of genetically modified food and that a study in 2020 found that 14% of the poultry samples and 13% of the pork had traces of salmonella.

It’s no secret that our food contains less and less nutrients, and on average, Americans consume double the American Heart Association’s recommended sodium intake. Perhaps with this in mind, just under one in five people wash their meat to remove excess salt – perhaps unaware of the other health risks of doing so.

One in five don’t wash their hands every time before cooking

Although less than 1% admitted to never washing their hands before cooking, one in five people (20.5%) don’t wash their hands or only wash their hands some or most of the time before cooking. Men were slightly more likely than women to let this standard slip (by 5.2%) and the age group least likely to always wash their hands before cooking were those aged between 35-44 (28.5%).

On the other end of the spectrum, more than half of Americans take hygiene very seriously – with 52% claiming to wash their hands during cooking before touching each ingredient. Just less than half (45.4%) only wash their hands if handling raw meat or fish, and a very small minority (0.3%) don’t wash their hands at all during the cooking process.

92% are planning on cooking or helping prepare food for Thanksgiving

The average grocery bill per month in an American family of three is $902, and due to inflation and demand, the average spend is rising. Americans are active in the kitchen, with nearly half of respondents (42.3%) saying that they cook every day of the week, with women being slightly more likely to cook daily than men (46.9% of women compared to 37.5% of men). This proportion decreases rapidly as we enter retirement age, from almost half (46.2%) of those aged between 55-64 to just over a quarter (27%) of over 65s.

Nearly all women and men (92.8% of women and 91.8% of men) said that they would be cooking or assisting in the kitchen this Thanksgiving – including 82% of respondents who never cook normally (perhaps another reason to be cognizant of food safety in the kitchen). Only 6.1% of respondents said they would be not helping prepare food, which doubled to 12% of 18-24 year olds who were most likely to be keeping out of the kitchen.

Only 1.9% of respondents said they wouldn’t be having a Thanksgiving meal. However, 8.1% of over 65s said they would not be participating – making them the age group most likely to forgo the celebrations. According to a report cited in BMC Public Health, half of all individuals over 60 are at risk of social isolation, and one-third experience feelings of loneliness. These statistics might provide an incentive for families to open their homes to elder members of their community this holiday season.

If you want to learn more about the history of Thanksgiving – and why it’s celebrated with a turkey – check out our page here.