not technically helpful...

[cellio]

I was trying to find out if Butterball turkeys actually contain butter, so I went to their web site. I could find nothing about ingredients/additives on the site, but I found this in the "about us" section: "In fact, the Butterball name was chosen to characterize a new, special breed of broad-breasted white feather turkeys, not because the turkeys contain butter, as many mistakenly believe."

Just a few more words could have removed the ambiguity. So it's a mistake to believe that the turkeys contain butter, or (what this technically says) that it's a mistake to believe that their name has anything to do with the possible presence of butter? Having failed to disambiguate with the resources they provide, I sent them email.

Odd detail: while they have a domain name (the obvious one, in fact), customer support has an AOL address.

Update: Reply received; no butter. (See comments.)

Comments

[laurabee.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall that Butterball turkeys are injected with "a solution", which I assumed to be turkey broth and flavor. It's possible that there's butter in the solution. And, I don't know if it matters (not being very conversant in all things kosher or if that's what you're after), but they have a whole page about serving Butterball turkeys during Passover.

[dsrtao]

The solution is vegetable oil, salt, water, and sometimes MSG. (If it contains MSG, it will be mentioned on the packaging.)

ConAgra owns all sorts of things, including Hebrew National and Slim Jim.

[profane-stencil.livejournal.com]

It occurs to me now that I had always assumed that the name "Butterball" was a reference to the noun "butterball" -as dictionary.com has it, a rotund individual. Perhaps I am mistaken.

I believe their website is *trying* to tell us that there's no butter in the bird, but who can tell for sure? I hope you get an answer to your email.

[anniemal.livejournal.com]

I have decidedly weird photographs of my hand with butter under a turkey skin. I buy cheap turkeys and imbue them. May or may not do it this year. It worked well. Maybe plain. For mom and our mutual weight gain. Jellied cranberry sauce or Mama Stamberg's Relish. Just glad I'm not going to have to deal with strangers. That was a scare.

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

May I say that reading this note reminded me of the West Wing episode where the President calls the company for information on stuffing the bird? ;-)

response from Butterball

[cellio]

Here is the mail I received from Butterball:

Thank you for contacting the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line via the Internet!

Since the ingredient you are asking about is one of the "Big 8" allergens (wheat, eggs, soy, milk, fish, shellfish, peanuts and tree nuts), the USDA requires that this ingredient must be listed in the ingredient statement on the package when it is in the food. No "Big 8" allergens are used in the flavoring ingredients of Butterball turkeys.

When there are dietary concerns, we advise purchasing Butterball Fresh Turkey and Butterball Fresh Breast of Turkey, which are all-natural and contain no added ingredients.

The breast meat of Butterball Frozen Turkeys, including Butterball Frozen Stuffed Turkey, and Butterball Frozen Breast of Turkey is moistness enhanced with a patented recipe of ingredients to enhance the natural flavor of the breast meat and yield a more uniformly juicy and tender turkey after cooking.

Individual ingredients in the basting recipe (water, salt, modified food starch - corn or potato source, sodium phosphate and natural flavors) are specified on the labels. We cannot say what the natural flavors are since that is proprietary information. However, we can tell you that no "Big 8" allergens are included and that the recipe does not contain butter.

If you have additional questions don't hesitate to contact us again, or call the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line at 1-800-BUTTERBALL (1-800-288-8372) and speak directly to one of our professional home economists. If you like, request the complimentary "Holiday Entertaining" recipe booklet that's available to Talk-Line callers.

Enjoy the best of all from Butterball and have a great holiday!