Thanksgiving turkeys – and other poultry – are less likely to be contaminated with bacteria that can cause food poisoning if the birds chowed on natural feed ingredients, scientists have found.

About 76 million cases of food poisoning occur in the United States every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Outbreaks of various pathogens traced to spinach, peanut butter, tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, and other foods have grabbed headlines in recent years. But plants aren’t the only food that can become contaminated by disease-causing microbes. Meat can be just as dangerous if not handled properly

“Food-borne pathogens are very prevalent in a lot of our domestic animals, and especially in poultry,” said Dan Donoghue of the University of Arkansas in the American Chemical Society’s Global Challenges podcast.

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