8 Oscar Mayer Products To Keep Out Of Your Cart Now And Forever

Oscar Mayer is a nostalgic company to many of us who grew up hearing the catchy jingle or even seeing one of their Wiener Mobiles driving around. The brand became famous for its hot dogs and has quite the weird and wonderful history, but unfortunately, that doesn't erase the fact that it also uses low-quality ingredients for its hot dogs and many of its deli meat options. It's for this reason that Oscar Mayer is actually one of the worst brands of deli meat you can buy when it comes to healthiness.

Personally, I have been wronged and disappointed by these specific items for the last time. These items were chosen based on my own personal experience with them, as well as level of general unhealthiness. Although some of these items don't necessarily have bad online reviews (there's that nostalgia kicking in), they're so bad for you ingredient-wise that they should be outlawed. Here are eight Oscar Mayer products to keep out of your cart now and forever.

Bologna is a mysterious product full of secrets you might not know. It isn't exactly known for its health benefits, but it is usually pretty cheap. For this reason, bologna is necessary. That said — and meant — as an adult who recently tried Oscar Mayer Original Bologna for the first time since childhood, I can safely say that no one should ever buy it again. The Original flavor has a sourness to it that, even though it's packed with enough preservatives to help it "stay good" for about a century (don't quote me on that), it always tastes like it went bad a week ago.

We're not just talking about the original flavor, either — there are an unnerving number of Oscar Mayer bologna types. Somehow, they are each worse than the last one, as the bologna becomes thicker (Super Thick Cut Bologna), and then heartier and thicker (Hearty Thick Cut Bologna). None of this is good for humankind. Oscar Mayer, please, do not make your bologna any thicker. There's a thin version, too, but don't let it fool you — no matter how you slice it, this bologna ranks near the bottom when it comes to bologna types.

At some point in our lives, we all ask ourselves the same question: is turkey bacon actually bacon? It depends on who you ask, but technically, since bacon is pork and turkey is turkey, the answer appears to be ... no. Then again, it could be seen as bacon to people who don't eat pork, and it's important for those people to hear this simple piece of advice: do not buy Oscar Mayer's turkey bacon.

The fact that this turkey bacon was recently recalled for possible listeria contamination is simply the latest red flag, but honestly, there are just better brands of turkey bacon out there. The reviews certainly don't lie — Walmart customers have been going off about it lately, with one customer mentioning that it tastes like a hot dog. Another person commented that it didn't even look like real meat when cooked, and tasted like bologna. Overall, when ranked against other turkey bacon brands, it's an overly smoky, way-too-salty product that doesn't taste like it should.

Hot dogs stuffed with little circles of goo are a polarizing genre of products – many people go crazy for them while others are totally grossed out. They might be a fun snack for kids at a birthday party, but as a product in your fridge that you have to somehow eat a whole package of ... not so much.

Oscar Mayer has several hot dog variations that have cheese infused into the frank itself, and the Jalapeño Cheddar Stuffed Dogs are definitely the worst of them, health-wise. One frank has 16 grams of fat and 5 grams of saturated fat. You'd be better off going with their chili cheese stuffed frank option, which is slightly better for you. Plus, many people who willfully bought the Jalapeño Stuffed Dogs were disappointed, with reviews calling out that you can barely taste the jalapeño or the cheese.

There isn't anything particularly terrible about Oscar Mayer's Cracked Black Pepper Turkey Breast. It's an extremely thin-sliced turkey, and a pretty basic one. Honestly, this turkey is just very sad — it might be one of the most disappointing packages of sliced turkey around.

This is primarily due to the fact that the "cracked black pepper" aspect to this turkey is very underwhelming -– there's not much to it, at all. You can't even taste the pepper. In fact, you can't really taste the turkey itself — it doesn't taste like anything. If you're going to purchase Oscar Mayer turkey, go for the carving board options, which are substantial, thick, and actually taste like turkey. If you're searching for a cracked black pepper turkey option, you're better off buying literally any other brand.

Oscar Mayer's Ham & Cheese Meat Loaf with Real Kraft Cheese might be the creepiest looking deli meat to ever exist on this planet. Back in 2022, this disturbing loaf underwent a huge recall due to possible cross-contamination after being sliced on unsanitary equipment previously used to cut non-cooked food items. Although it's safe to eat now, it's about time we — as an international society — give up on meat with little specs of stuff in it that shouldn't be there.

As sickly as this product looks, it's equally as bad for you, and one glance at the ingredient list will prove it. The third ingredient is processed cheddar cheese.  While many people do seem to feel a certain nostalgia towards this product since they ate it as kids, others comment that it's nasty and doesn't even taste like ham. Your sandwiches deserve better than this speckled ham monstrosity.

There are a lot of turkey options available at the grocery store, and this round, slimy-looking, way-too-shiny Lean Honey Smoked White Turkey Sliced Lunch Meat is truly one of the most unhealthy variations out there. First of all, it has plenty of potentially harmful additives, the first one being sodium phosphate, which is a preservative usually added to meats to keep them moist. It also contains sodium nitrate, another preservative that adds flavor and makes the turkey last longer. Both are questionable and may contribute to health issues. The turkey also contains a food thickener called carrageenan, which is a processed ingredient that contains zero nutritional value.

Reviews mention that the texture of the turkey is off-putting and rubbery. Some people seem to think the taste of it is okay, while others have no idea what they were even eating. It apparently tastes like fake turkey and many people comment on the excessive sliminess of it.

Don't be fooled by the allure of the word "lean" in the name –- Oscar Mayer Lean Honey Ham Lunch Meat is another one of the worst hams you can buy at the grocery store. To start, it has a whopping 810 milligrams of sodium per serving, which is ... a lot. Like others on this list, it has your classic Oscar Mayer deli meat additives, like sodium nitrite and carrageenan. The added water is just annoying –- unless you truly dry the slices off with a paper towel, it will dampen anything you add it to (like bread).

Generally speaking, ham isn't exactly known for being the healthiest deli meat, of course. If you're a ham head who can't quit, though, don't worry — there are safer hams you can buy that are similar in taste and price (because it's valid that Oscar Mayer is usually on the cheaper side, which factors into why some might buy it). Try to find one with "nitrate-free" on the label or no added artificial colors — like this Good & Gather Uncured Honey Ham, for example.

Oscar Mayer Cotto Salami Sliced Lunch Meat is an extremely questionable lunch meat for several reasons. First of all, cotto salami is usually made from pork, but some variations of it have veal or beef added (or both), but the first ingredient in this one is "mechanically separated chicken." Yikes. They just let the machines do it, huh? It gets worse, though, because the second ingredient is ... beef hearts. Pork is the third ingredient, sure, but the damage has been done already with those first two. Of course, it has the usual additives that Oscar Mayer loves to throw into its deli meats, like sodium phosphate and sodium nitrite.

Reviews are mixed, but the negative reviews are very upsetting. One person commented that it tastes like salami with plastic injected into it, and more reviewers also mention the plastic-like taste. There are plenty of other salami options for you to add to your cart — stay as far away as possible from this one.

All of the products on this list were gathered together based on personal experience and, more importantly, how truly unhealthy they are. I studied the ingredient lists and nutrition panels of all of Oscar Mayer's current products listed on their website and these were the ones that stood out as the worst for you, health-wise. 

Fat levels, sodium levels, additives, and preservatives were also considered, as were customer reviews. Another important aspect of these items is their general creepiness — many are described as slimy or truly just look disgusting. Sure, gross looking foods can taste and be amazing, but these ones were nasty on the inside, too, which is why I mention their unappealing exterior, as well.