Turkey Legs Gone Wild...

[Enjoying Life]

The recommended amount of sodium intake for adults over 50 years old is under 1500 milligrams a day. I eat low sodium, and can eat as much fresh turkey as I want, but not a Disney turkey leg.

There is over 5000 mg of sodium in a single Disney turkey leg. That's more than 3 days worth. They have taken a perfectly good food and turned it into this unhealthy monstrosity that no one should be eating. Processed foods are high in sodium because of the added chemicals and preservatives. I can't imagine what they do to these things to make them so bad.

Here are the numbers:

Disney Turkey Leg: 1,092.5 calories, 52.8 grams of fat, 5,283.5 mg of sodium.

 

[T00dles]

They brine it and probably smoke it.

 

[mom2rtk]

But half a turkey let would only be 1 1/2 days worth of sodium. I might be tempted......

What did they do anyway..... start posting nutritional information on the food carts?

 

[lorenae]

Yes, that's alot but I don't think anyone buying food a Disney world is buying healthy food for the most part- at least I never saw any last week. One Disney turkey leg over the course of a month or a year won't hurt any more than buying a Mickey pretzel will.

I'm not sodium sensitive at all, so I don't reduce my sodium but I never eat packaged food or anything that comes out of a box. However, in Disney, I ate what was available when we were hungry and I'd say that even the salads are doctored enough to be unhealthy. I wouldn't make a steady diet out of anything I saw at Pop or at any of the parks all last week.

 

[larryz]

Restaurant board, here we come...

 

[mshanson3121]

The recommended amount of sodium intake for adults over 50 years old is under 1500 milligrams a day. I eat low sodium, and can eat as much fresh turkey as I want, but not a Disney turkey leg.

There is over 5000 mg of sodium in a single Disney turkey leg. That's more than 3 days worth. They have taken a perfectly good food and turned it into this unhealthy monstrosity that no one should be eating. Processed foods are high in sodium because of the added chemicals and preservatives. I can't imagine what they do to these things to make them so bad.

Here are the numbers:

Disney Turkey Leg: 1,092.5 calories, 52.8 grams of fat, 5,283.5 mg of sodium.

Holy heck! That's a heart attack waiting to happen!

 

[mom2rtk]

Restaurant board, here we come...

That makes it sound like you don't think the nutritional makeup of turkey legs has anything to do with theme parks strategies.....

 

[csmith041177]

I'm sorry. I know it is terrible for me. But oh my they are delicious...cannot resist them! If I am in frontierland and I'm hungry, and I can resist Pecos Bill, I grab one.

 

[rwdavis2]

So what? No one is eating them on a regular basis.

 

[tstidm1]

I prefer my Turkey legs on Thanksgiving due to their smaller size and them not being so salty. I dislike Disney Turkey Legs due to the sodium in them.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

Isn't it actually an Emu leg?

(j/k )

 

[DLgal]

One turkey leg is also about 4 servings of meat. So, really, it's not that bad.

And sodium doesn't cause heart attacks. It has much less of an effect on heart health than previously thought.

 

[TiffanyA]

I don't put much faith in the whole "recommended" amount / standard diet. I am on a ketogenic diet and it has improved my lipid numbers as well as helping me lose weight. I eat (ok share, I can't eat a whole one by myself) a turkey leg a day when I'm at Disney, and will cook them at home when I can get my hands on them (too bad they're never quite right). I have no problem with salt and actually eat quite a lot of it. As stated above, sodium doesn't cause heart attacks and my doctor has never brought anything sodium related as something I should be concerned above. I actually have borderline low blood pressure. I think the whole low sodium is best is just sensationalist for those that don't have issues with sodium and don't need to worry so much about it.

We should talk about the daily recommended dose of sugar next. Disney would hit that one out of the ballpark.

 

[Jerusalem Gal]

Sheesh, now I want a turkey leg!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

WDW TURKEY LEGS "411":
1) Disney sells about 1.5 MILLION turkey legs every year!
2) That is about 7 turkey legs for every man-woman-child in Orlando.
3) Each of these bird legs weighs about 1.5 pounds for about $12 or 1-CS DDP Credit.
4) They supposedly come from 40-50 pound turkeys!
5) Nutrition, per Lisa Haines, VP Communications, WDW
. . . about a half day's worth of a grown-man's calorie goal (1,092 cal each leg)
. . . about a day's worth of a grown-man's fat goal (54 gr each leg)
. . . about two day's worth of a grown-man's sodium goal (5,283 gr each leg)
6) Recipe
. . . take uber-monstrous one leg
. . . inject copious amounts of salt brine
. . . smoke slowly at 225º for 4 hrs.
7) Available at the below (all Turkey Legs taste the same, and from he same vendor)
. . . MK - Liberty Square at Turkey Leg Cart
. . . MK - Tomorrowland at Launching Pad
. . . EP - America Adventure at Fife and Drum Tavern
. . . AK - Flame Tree BBQ at Safari Turkey
. . . AK - Dinoland at Trilo Bites
. . . AK - Africa at Flame Tree BBQ
. . . HS - Tower of Terror at Toluca Legs Turkey Company
. . . TL - Surf Doggies
. . . BL - Avalaunch
NOTE: We really do like the taste of the turkey legs. However, we seldom finish one,
so we save the calories for later. We still get the legs when we have a hankerin'. In
addition, they do seem to be pretty "stringy".

 

[ars0525]

I loved the turkey legs back when you could only get them in Frontierland from the wagon. It was my fav Disney treat when we came.

When the price started increasing too much I stopped eating them (it's been a good 10+ years). Last trip I saw they were $10??

 

[PghPiratesGirl]

I loved the turkey legs back when you could only get them in Frontierland from the wagon. It was my fav Disney treat when we came.

When the price started increasing too much I stopped eating them (it's been a good 10+ years). Last trip I saw they were $10??

Listed as $11.25 at Fife and Drum in Epcot!

 

[VACamm]

after 15 trips to WDW I am proud to say I have never eaten a Turkey Leg!! It looks weird when people are gnawing on them ....

 

[carmelhp]

I can't stand the smell. They smell like ham...it's just wrong.

 

[Enjoying Life]

What's weird about this?