Higher Fat Content Found in Supermarket Chickens

Findings of university researchers indicate that the quality of mass-produced chicken meat is measurably inferior to that marketed only a few years ago, and may be another factor driving customers through the doors of retailers promising well-reared poultry.

According to research carried out by London Metropolitan University, chickens offered for sale at a supermarket contain 2.7 times as much fat as in 1970. They also found that today’s supermarket chickens contained 30% less protein. 

In fact, just 16% of these chickens is now protein, down from almost 25% in the late 1970s. This means that an average serving of chicken has increased in calorific value by almost 50%. Organic chicken contains a little more protein and 25% less fat, offering quality food shops an opportunity to stress the comparative health values of properly farmed chickens.
 
The findings come as no surprise to Wendy Moore of the Fresh Basil deli in Belper, Derbyshire. Poorer quality meat is bound to be the result, she said, “when chickens are fed rubbish and don’t get any exercise or fresh air.” According to Wendy, the taste of the meat is adversely affected too. “You can taste the difference in flavour with a well-reared chicken,” she says, “and when you cook a good free range or an organic chicken, you don’t get the water content you get from some supermarket chicken. People should be given options and be aware of what they are buying.”