White meat

In traditional gastronomy, white meat also includes rabbit, the flesh of milk-fed young mammals (in particular veal and lamb), and sometimes pork.

The terms white, red, light and dark applied to meat have varied and inconsistent meanings in different contexts.

[5] Periodically some researchers allow lean cuts of rabbit to be an outlier and categorize it into the “white meat” category because it shares certain nutritional similarities with poultry.

[14] The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) typically classifies red meat, poultry, and seafood as their own separate categories.

For ground-based birds like chicken and turkeys, dark meats occur in the legs, which are used to support the weight of the animals while they move.

[25] Birds which use their chest muscles for sustained flight (such as geese and ducks) have dark meat throughout their bodies.

[29] A 2022 review found that high white meat intake is associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer.

[30] A 2023 meta-analysis found no association between white meat intake and cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.