A gym café and a school canteen use the same word, mortadella, and order two completely different products. One takes a 200 g can from the shelf; the other puts a 1350 g log in the refrigerator. That is why turkey vs chicken mortadella is never just a question of which bird: the product class comes first, the meat second, and slice yield last.
Three products stand side by side in this article: Mortella Fit High Protein Turkey Mortadella 200 g (canned), Mortella Fit High Protein Chicken Mortadella 200 g (canned) and Mortella Chicken Mortadella with Vegetables 1350 g (log). The first two are ambient-stored, protein-led products with a 24-month shelf life; the third is a classic deli log that travels in the cold chain and needs a slicing machine. Which one goes on which menu follows from that difference.
Choosing between turkey and chicken mortadella is really a choice between two product classes
Canned Fit mortadella and the chilled mortadella log share the same production logic: the meat is minced, turned into an emulsion and cooked. The Italian origin of mortadella and its place in Turkish cooking describes that emulsion structure. The difference begins with storage and use. The canned product sits at around +20 °C in a cool, dry place, and once the can is opened the contents move to a sealed container in the refrigerator. The log travels and is stored between 0 °C and +4 °C, and after opening it stays refrigerated with the cut face covered.
In a business that difference means two different places: the can makes it possible to hold stock where refrigeration is absent or limited; the log belongs to a kitchen that slices every day. The turkey-or-chicken question comes after that decision, and it is seen most clearly in the Fit range, where the two meats sit side by side.
What are canned Fit turkey and chicken mortadella for in a food business?
The Fit range exists to keep a deli item on a calorie-counted menu. The turkey version carries 20.92 g of protein, 1.4 g of fat and 7.62 g of carbohydrate per 100 g; the chicken version 18.99 g of protein, 1.28 g of fat and 12.11 g of carbohydrate. The protein and carbohydrate gap comes from the composition of turkey meat itself; there is no added protein supplement. On salt the order reverses: turkey 1.96 g, chicken 1.85 g.
In a business these products go into athlete snacks, protein-led salads and post-training sandwiches; because the product is canned already cooked, it is sliced and served without heating. A case holds 24 units and orders run in case multiples. Just as turkey mortadella for those seeking low-fat protein explains why the turkey version leads in that channel, the chicken version is the pick in the same channel for a menu that wants slightly less salt.
How large is the protein, fat and salt gap between turkey and chicken mortadella?
| Per 100 g | Fit Turkey Mortadella (canned) | Fit Chicken Mortadella (canned) | Chicken Mortadella with Vegetables 1350 g (log) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 126 kcal | 136 kcal | 144 kcal |
| Protein | 20.92 g | 18.99 g | 17.9 g |
| Fat | 1.4 g | 1.28 g | 6.7 g |
| Carbohydrate | 7.62 g | 12.11 g | 2.76 g |
| Salt | 1.96 g | 1.85 g | 1.5 g |
| Storage | +20 °C, cool and dry | +20 °C, cool and dry | 0 °C / +4 °C |
| Shelf life | 24 months | 24 months | Printed on the pack |
The table shows three things. The protein order runs turkey, chicken, then the chicken log; on fat the two canned products carry less than a fifth of the log; on salt the log is lowest at 1.5 g, which is also the lowest figure across the whole Mortella charcuterie line. The carbohydrate row shows the price of Fit production: when fat is reduced the structure is held with other components and carbohydrate rises, most of all in the chicken version.
How many slices come from a 1350 g chicken mortadella log versus a 200 g can?
The worked example assumes a 15 g slice. The 1350 g log gives roughly 90 slices and the 200 g can roughly 13. At two slices per sandwich the log makes 45 sandwiches and the can 6; a case of 24 cans corresponds to roughly 144 sandwiches. The log needs a slicing machine and the thickness is set in the kitchen; the can comes out of its tin and can be sliced with a knife, no machine required.
Waste behaves differently too. The cut face of the log is exposed to air and dries if it is not covered; an opened can is small enough that it is usually finished the same day. On a high-volume sandwich line the log is more efficient per kilo; in a gym café making a handful of sandwiches a day the can produces no waste. How long an opened pack takes to use up counts as much as the slice number.
How does turkey meat change the colour and texture of a mortadella?
Turkey breast carries denser muscle tissue and less fat than chicken, and in an emulsion that shows up as a firmer slice and a higher protein figure. Because fat is reduced in Fit production, both canned products read lighter in aroma and firmer in texture than a standard mortadella; fat carries flavour, and when it drops that difference is expected. The turkey version takes that firmness one step further.
In the chicken log with vegetables the fat stays in place at 6.7 g and the slice has the classic softness of a mortadella; the cross-section shows green and orange pieces of vegetable on a pale emulsion base, and the pattern is the same at every point of the log. The round section fits a burger bun and a croissant. Where the menu wants a visual deli slice, the log leads; where it wants numbers, the Fit cans do.
Turkey or chicken mortadella: a decision table by menu type
| Business / menu | Priority | Suitable product | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gym café, nutrition practice | Highest protein, low carbohydrate | Fit Turkey Mortadella (canned) | 20.92 g protein, 7.62 g carbohydrate, stock without refrigeration |
| Calorie-controlled corporate menu | Low fat, lower salt | Fit Chicken Mortadella (canned) | 1.28 g fat, 1.85 g salt |
| School canteen, institutional kitchen | Lowest salt, visible vegetables | Chicken Mortadella with Vegetables 1350 g | 1.5 g salt, high volume with a slicer |
| Burger and croissant line | Round section | Chicken Mortadella with Vegetables 1350 g | The slice fits the bread exactly |
| Kiosk without refrigeration, travel box | Ambient storage | Fit Turkey or Chicken (canned) | +20 °C, 24 months, case of 24 |
The table does not rank one product above another; it matches the menu's priority to the product's numbers. Some businesses use both classes at once: the canteen builds its daily sandwich from the log, and the protein box in the gym corner from the can.
What do the communiqué's emulsified-product criteria guarantee when buying mortadella?
Mortadella falls into the emulsified meat products group of the Turkish Food Codex Communiqué on Meat, Prepared Meat Mixtures and Meat Products; salami and sausage are in the same group. For this group the communiqué requires total meat protein of at least 9 percent, a collagen share of no more than 25 percent, a moisture-to-protein ratio below 6.5 and a fat-to-protein ratio below 3.2. The text is published in the Official Gazette (yeni sekmede açılır), with a compliance period for existing businesses running to 31 March 2027.
For the buyer it means this: the protein figure on the label shows how far above the communiqué's floor the product sits. Against a 9 percent minimum, values of 17.9 g, 18.99 g and 20.92 g are well clear. The criterion guarantees a minimum standard, not quality; taste, texture and fit for the menu are tested with a sample. For a broader framing of why composition and labelling rules exist at all, the WHO food safety fact sheet (yeni sekmede açılır) sets out the public-health reasoning behind food standards.
Starting a mortadella order with samples
Ask for samples of all three products and evaluate them on the same day: open the cans at room temperature and slice them, and cut the log on your own machine at your own thickness. Which product goes to which menu item is decided not at the tasting but by the business's refrigeration capacity and its daily sandwich count. For a quote, samples and a trade account, contact EMKA FOOD; cans are ordered in case multiples and the log by the kilo.
