Bernard Matthews launched Turkey Twizzlers in 1997. The spiral-shaped processed turkey product became a familiar sight in British school canteens, where it was commonly served with chips, vegetables or mashed potato.
Turkey Twizzlers were reformulated in 2003 to use turkey rather than a mixture of turkey and pork. Their national reputation changed dramatically two years later when they became the most recognisable target of *Jamie’s School Dinners*.
Why It Mattered
The programme used Turkey Twizzlers to illustrate wider concerns about highly processed school food, limited catering budgets and the nutritional standards applied to children’s meals. Several councils and major catering companies removed them from their menus, and Bernard Matthews discontinued the product in 2005.
Its name remained shorthand for an entire era of British school dinners. Bernard Matthews relaunched Turkey Twizzlers in 2020 with a new recipe, higher turkey content and reduced saturated fat, but the original version remained the one embedded in public memory.
Launch and original product
- Bernard Matthews launched Turkey Twizzlers in 1997.
- Their spiral shape and strongly flavoured coating made them particularly recognisable among the processed foods served in British school canteens.
- The product was reformulated in 2003 to use turkey meat instead of the earlier combination of turkey and pork.
- By 2005, the version discussed publicly contained 34 per cent turkey alongside water, fat, rusk, coating and other ingredients.
The school-dinner controversy
- Turkey Twizzlers became a prominent target of *Jamie’s School Dinners* in 2005.
- The programme used them to illustrate wider concerns about processed food, school-meal budgets and children’s nutrition.
- Major school-catering companies and several councils subsequently removed them from their menus.
- Turkey Twizzlers were also cited in Parliament during debate about food education and healthier school meals.
- Bernard Matthews discontinued the original product in 2005.
The 2020 return
- Bernard Matthews relaunched Turkey Twizzlers in August 2020, fifteen years after the original product disappeared.
- The reformulated version contained more turkey and less saturated fat than its predecessor.
- It was initially released in Original Tangy Tomato and Chilli Cheese flavours.
- Although the recipe changed, the relaunch relied heavily on public recognition of the original product and its place in British school-dinner memory.
Associated With
Bernard Matthews Foods - food brand
Defining Feature
Spiral-shaped processed turkey product associated with British school dinners
Status
Discontinued - Original product withdrawn in 2005; reformulated version launched in 2020
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Gallery
Credit
Bernard Matthews packaging artwork; photograph contributor not established
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
Bernard Matthews sold Tasty Twizzlers as a convenient turkey product before the spiral-shaped food became a focus of Britain's school-meal debate.
