Is Sausage Bad for Gout? Pork, Chicken and Turkey Compared

TL;DR

• Fresh pork sausage has about 160 mg of purines per 100 g (raw), in the high band like fresh pork, and turkey sausage about 90 mg. A 3-ounce (85 g) bratwurst carries roughly 135 mg.
• On purines alone, fresh sausage isn’t in the top tier with organ meats, anchovies or dry salami. The bigger issues are how many links you eat, what else is on the plate, and whether beer comes with it.
• Most sausage has 650 to over 1,000 mg of sodium per 100 g. Salt doesn’t raise uric acid, but most people with gout also have high blood pressure, so it still matters.

Sausage is not one of the worst foods for gout, but it isn’t a low-purine food either. Fresh pork sausage has about 160 mg of purines per 100 g in USDA’s 2024 analyses, the same high band as fresh pork, and turkey sausage about 90 mg.

What usually turns sausage into a gout problem is everything around it: three brats instead of one, a breakfast plate that also holds bacon and ham, and the beer that tends to come with the grill.

How Many Purines Are in Sausage?

Values from our purine content in meat chart, based on the USDA and ODS-NIH purine database (raw or as sold):

Sausage	Purines per 100 g	Example portion	Purines per portion
Pork bratwurst	160 mg	1 brat, 3 oz (85 g)	~135 mg
Pork sausage, breakfast links	160 mg	2 small links (50 g)	~80 mg
Italian sausage	160 mg	1 large link (113 g)	~180 mg
Turkey sausage**	90 mg	2 links (50 g)	~45 mg
Chicken sausage	Not in our chart*	1 link (85 g)	Unknown; could match pork sausage
Hot dog	115 mg	1 frank (50 g)	~58 mg
Salami (dry)	215 mg	1 oz (28 g)	~60 mg
Liverwurst**	180 mg	2 oz (57 g)	~103 mg

*Chicken sausage isn’t in our chart or in the major published purine tables we checked. It’s ground chicken (about 195 mg per 100 g raw in USDA analyses) mixed with fat, water and seasonings. Don’t assume it’s low-purine.

**Turkey sausage and liverwurst aren’t in the USDA and ODS-NIH database; these are the values our chart keeps. Ground turkey, which the database does include, measures about 95 mg per 100 g, consistent with the turkey sausage figure.

Our charts use four bands: low (under 50 mg per 100 g), moderate (50–100), high (100–200) and very high (over 200). Fresh pork sausage and hot dogs sit in the high band, turkey sausage in the moderate band and dry salami in the very high band. Recipes vary a lot, and published tables disagree more for processed meats than for fresh cuts: hot dogs range from about 50 to 170 mg per 100 g across analyses, and salami from about 120 to 245. Treat these as ballpark figures, and don’t assume processing lowers purines.

How Does Sausage Compare With Other Meats?

Meat	Purines per 100 g	Band
Pork chop	235 mg	Very high
Salami (dry)	215 mg	Very high
Beef liver	210 mg	Very high
Ground pork	185 mg	High
Liverwurst	180 mg	High
Chicken breast	160 mg	High
Pork sausage	160 mg	High
Hot dog	115 mg	High
Bacon (uncooked)	100 mg	High
Ground turkey	95 mg	Moderate
Turkey sausage	90 mg	Moderate
Tofu	25 mg	Low
Eggs	under 2.5 mg	Low

Values are raw or as sold. Per 100 g, fresh pork sausage is in the same range as ground pork and chicken breast and below a lean pork chop. The catch is that it’s easy to eat a lot of it, and it often shows up next to other processed meats. A breakfast of sausage, bacon and ham adds up faster than any one of them suggests.

Is Chicken or Turkey Sausage Better for Gout?

On purines, turkey sausage looks better: about 90 mg per 100 g versus about 160 mg for fresh pork sausage. Chicken sausage has no data and starts from ground chicken, which measures higher than ground turkey (about 195 vs 95 mg per 100 g raw), so don’t assume all poultry sausage is equal.

Where poultry sausage usually wins is fat and calories. USDA FoodData Central lists cooked fresh turkey sausage at about 10 g of fat and 196 calories per 100 g, versus about 27 g of fat and 325 calories for pan-fried pork sausage. That matters for gout, because the American College of Rheumatology’s 2020 guideline conditionally recommends a weight-loss program for people with gout who are overweight.

Sodium is not automatically lower. USDA lists cooked fresh turkey sausage at about 665 mg of sodium per 100 g, but smoked turkey sausage at about 916 mg, higher than pan-fried pork sausage at about 814 mg. Read the label.

The Sodium Question

Sausage is one of the saltier foods you can eat. Per 100 g, USDA FoodData Central lists about 846 mg of sodium for cooked pork bratwurst, 801 mg for Italian pork sausage and about 1,060 mg for grilled kielbasa. Two brats (about 170 g) come to roughly 1,440 mg, more than 60% of the 2,300 mg daily limit adults are advised to stay under, before the bun, sauerkraut and mustard.

Salt doesn’t raise uric acid. In the DASH-Sodium feeding trial of 103 adults, moving from a low-sodium to a high-sodium diet lowered serum uric acid by about 0.4 mg/dL. The same trial found that the DASH eating pattern itself, built around vegetables, fruit, whole grains and low-fat dairy, lowered uric acid, especially in people who started with high levels.

The reason to watch sausage sodium is the company gout keeps. In US national survey data, 74% of adults with gout had high blood pressure. The ACR guideline even includes advice on blood pressure medicines for people with gout, suggesting a switch away from the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide when feasible and favoring losartan. Keeping salt in check supports blood pressure, and blood pressure care is part of gout care.

Beer and Brats: Where the Real Risk Is

At Oktoberfest, tailgates and backyard cookouts, brats rarely arrive alone. Among alcoholic drinks, beer is the one most strongly tied to gout. In a 12-year study of 47,150 men, each daily 12-ounce beer was linked to a 49% higher risk of developing gout. Spirits carried a smaller increase (15% per daily drink), and moderate wine drinking wasn’t linked to higher risk.

A brat simmered in beer isn’t the main problem; the pints alongside it are. Alcohol affects how your body handles uric acid (see how alcohol causes gout flares), and beer is covered in detail in is beer bad for gout. If you’re at a beer hall or a tailgate:

• Have one brat, not three, and pile on peppers, onions and cabbage.
• Alternate every drink with water, or skip alcohol if you’ve flared recently.
• Load up on low-purine sides like potato salad, corn and slaw.

Our gout and BBQ guide has more cookout strategies.

How Much Sausage Is Reasonable?

• Portion: one link (85–113 g, about 135–180 mg of purines for pork) or two small breakfast links.
• Frequency: an occasional food, not a daily breakfast.
• One processed meat per meal: sausage or bacon or ham, not all three.
• Fill the rest of the plate: eggs, vegetables, potatoes and whole grains are all low in purines.

An app like Urica can total the purines on a full breakfast or tailgate plate, which is usually where sausage days go wrong.

Sausage During a Flare vs. Between Flares

During a flare, skip sausage and other processed and red meats for a few days, and skip alcohol entirely. Eggs, low-fat dairy and tofu are gentler proteins. Start the treatment your doctor prescribed; the ACR guideline strongly recommends colchicine, NSAIDs or glucocorticoids as first-line options. Drink plenty of water unless you’ve been told to limit fluids.

Between flares, a single link now and then, with low-purine sides and water, fits most gout-friendly eating plans. Keep organ-meat sausages like liverwurst rare.

How to Cook Sausage for Gout

• Grill, bake or pan-cook it. None of these adds purines.
• Skip gravy made from the drippings. Sausage gravy puts the purines that cooked out of the meat back on your plate, along with the sausage itself.
• If you simmer sausages, discard the liquid rather than reducing it into a sauce.
• Check glazed and “apple” or “maple” varieties for added sugars. The ACR guideline also advises limiting high-fructose corn syrup.
• Cook it with vegetables: a sheet pan of sausage with peppers, onions and potatoes stretches one link into a full meal.

Better Swaps for Sausage

Instead of	Try	Why it helps
Two or three brats and beers	One brat, extra vegetables, water or sparkling water	Fewer purines, no beer
Pork sausage every breakfast	Eggs most days, sausage occasionally	Eggs measure under 2.5 mg per 100 g
Sausage, bacon and ham together	Pick one	Avoids stacking three processed meats
Pork sausage	Lean turkey sausage	Fewer purines (about 90 vs 160 mg per 100 g), less fat
Liverwurst	Turkey sausage or hummus	Liverwurst is about 180 mg per 100 g
Any meat sausage	A plant-based sausage	Fewer purines, and plant purines are less tied to flares

The Bottom Line

Sausage isn’t one of the worst foods for gout on purines alone, but it isn’t low either: about 160 mg per 100 g for fresh pork sausage, 90 mg for turkey, and unknown for chicken. The problems are quantity, the other processed meats that come with it, the sodium, and above all the beer that often comes with brats. Keep it to one link as an occasional food, skip organ-meat sausages, pair it with vegetables and water, and leave it off the menu during a flare.

Sources

• FitzGerald JD, et al. 2020 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Management of Gout. Arthritis Care & Research, 2020.
• Choi HK, et al. Alcohol intake and risk of incident gout in men: a prospective study. The Lancet, 2004.
• Juraschek SP, et al. Effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet and Sodium Intake on Serum Uric Acid. Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2016.
• Zhu Y, Pandya BJ, Choi HK. Comorbidities of gout and hyperuricemia in the US general population: NHANES 2007–2008. The American Journal of Medicine, 2012.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Sodium in Your Diet.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Talk to your rheumatologist or healthcare provider about your specific situation.