Thanksgiving Preparation, Does ‘Cage-Free’ and ‘Hormone-Free’ Mean Anything?

Can you pass me some of that bologna-free turkey?

When shopping for a holiday bird this Thanksgiving, you'll see plenty of labels. Preservative-free. Hormone-free. Cage-free. Do these things mean anything? Or is it all bologna?

According to the Detroit News, it's the latter.

Daisy Freund is the director of farm animal welfare campaigns for the ASPCA, and she says these labels are nothing more than a con to get you to cough up more money on your turkey. Of course, you're not going to feel as confident buying the turkey that's been frozen and tossed into a discount bin than you would purchasing one who has been nestled into a cooler with young, cage-free, hormone-free labels on it.

Daisy assures us that every turkey that you purchase for your meal in the US is young. It makes sense that farmers wouldn't wait until the turkey is on its last leg to slaughter it. Also, the USDA prohibits turkeys sold in the US to be raised in a cage or be subject to hormones.

“By law, turkeys aren’t getting hormones on these factory farms, so that’s a completely meaningless term, but we see prices getting jacked for this, which is really a shame. They just want to know where to put their money, and they’re being misled.”

So what should you choose?

According to the ASPCA, you would be looking for turkeys with labels that read "Certified Humane, Global Animal Partnership and Animal Welfare Approved."