# Why is the dark meat dark and the white meat white?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-dark-meat-dark-and-the-white-meat-white/94832
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 23, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-dark-meat-dark-and-the-white-meat-white/94832 "2001-11-23T01:23:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-dark-meat-dark-and-the-white-meat-white/94832/1 "2001-11-23T01:23:37Z")

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In turkeys, that is. 😉

Seriously, though. What’s the deal?

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### Author: ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2001, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-dark-meat-dark-and-the-white-meat-white/94832/2 "2001-11-23T01:26:27Z")

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[The Master speakss](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a981204b.html). This is regarding chickens, but the principle is the same.

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### Author: ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2001, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-dark-meat-dark-and-the-white-meat-white/94832/3 "2001-11-23T01:30:21Z")

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Muscles under continuous stress (like leg muscles) develop into dark meat. Muscles used only for burst exertion (like the flight muscles of a chicken or turkey) remain white. Because a fish is so streamlined, its passage through water requires very little effort and therefore most fish meat is white as well. This is covered in Harold McGee’s fabulous tome, “On Food and Cooking.”

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### Author: ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2001, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-dark-meat-dark-and-the-white-meat-white/94832/4 "2001-11-23T04:53:39Z")

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Hmmm…I tried the archive using only the word  
_turkey_ and didn’t get that one. Guess I should have been more specific.

Thank you!

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### Author: ![Lao\_Tzu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Lao\_Tzu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tzu)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2001, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-dark-meat-dark-and-the-white-meat-white/94832/5 "2001-11-23T08:12:27Z")

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To elaborate on Cecil’s answer…

In red meat, there’s a high percentage of [“fast twitch” muscle fibers](http://www.med.unc.edu/medal/olympicgold/fastslowtwitch.htm), which are capable of producing energy aerobically. These fibers contain the red myoglobin that Cecil speaks about. In white meat there are more “slow twitch” fibers, which generally produce energy anaerobically. Like **Zenster** alluded to, these fibers are for power, not endurance. The situation in humans is similar: our endurance muscles, like our legs, abs, and **lips** :rolleyes: have more “red meat” fibers, while our power muscles, like the shoulders and chest, have more “white meat” fibers. If you disected a cadaver, i imagine you’d see some color differences in the muscle type. Now doesn’t that make you hungry for more turkey?

…  
“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” – Aldous Huxley

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### Author: ![Lao\_Tzu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Lao\_Tzu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tzu)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2001, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-dark-meat-dark-and-the-white-meat-white/94832/6 "2001-11-23T08:57:44Z")

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Woops, i got my slow and fast twitch reversed. Red meat has more slow fibers, white meat has more of the fast kind.

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### Author: ![MalFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@MalFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MalFrog)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2001, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-dark-meat-dark-and-the-white-meat-white/94832/7 "2001-11-23T12:13:55Z")

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It’s actually all to do with reflectivity and absorption.

When light shines on the meat different proportions of the spectrum are absorbed.

White meat therefore just reflects back more of the incident colo(u)rs than the dark meat does.

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### Author: ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2001, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-dark-meat-dark-and-the-white-meat-white/94832/8 "2001-11-23T12:58:55Z")

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This cropped up down the pub the other evening and the best I could come up with (and it isn’t one of my subjects…so be gentle) was: White meat = hatched, Red = ain’t.

Now I know better. Thanks !