Natural Choice Smoked Deli Turkey vs Smoked Ham & Turkey Sub Kit: which is safer?

Oscar Mayer Smoked Ham & Turkey Sub Kit is the clear pick. Hormel Natural Choice Smoked Deli Turkey carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.

Hormel Natural Choice Smoked Deli Turkey

Hormel

Natural Choice Smoked Deli Turkey

PFAS grade

Poor 25/100

Overall grade

Bad 3/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 4

Material

paper/plastic composite packaging with grease-resistant coating

Confidence

62%

PossiblePFAS in grease-resistant coating

ReportedSodium nitrite/nitrate preservatives

PossiblePlastic film degradation and microplastic migration

Our pick

Oscar Mayer Smoked Ham & Turkey Sub Kit

Oscar Mayer

Smoked Ham & Turkey Sub Kit

PFAS grade

Good 70/100

Overall grade

Good 56/100

Verdict

Buy

Hazard flags

⚑ 2

Material

plastic film wrapper; likely PE or PP film

Confidence

72%

PossiblePlastic film leaching under heating

ReportedPathogenic bacterial growth if seal compromised

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag PFAS in grease-resistant coating, Sodium nitrite/nitrate preservatives, Plastic film degradation and microplastic migration and Coating adhesion loss over shelf life on the Hormel and not on the Oscar Mayer.
  • We flag Plastic film leaching under heating and Pathogenic bacterial growth if seal compromised on the Oscar Mayer and not on the Hormel.
  • The Hormel is paper/plastic composite packaging with grease-resistant coating where the Oscar Mayer is plastic film wrapper; likely PE or PP film, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • The gap is 45 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Oscar Mayer is the one to buy.

Both products run through the same public rubric: materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →

More deli meat & cold cuts packaging: see the full ranking