How many chicken lovers in the house? Woah, so many, I won’t even haphazard a guess at a number as statistics show that you guys are topping the charts world over. And in the years to come chicken and poultry are going to retain the top consumed position than other types of meat. And to a certain extent, it makes sense, what with chicken being easier to cook and in a whole lot of ways, plus it doesn’t hurt any sentimental or religious views. Yes, I can see you counting its health benefits as well, it is a lean meat, high in protein, gives you energy, lower on polyunsaturated fats, cholesterol sodium. Plus it’s cheaper as well, so supporting the economy. I am guessing if you know all this, you will definitely know how to pick them up from the market as well. Yes again, the pale pink colored chicken breast and creamy white portions. So let me ask, have you noticed the pieces with white stripes running through them? If you are saying, no way do you pick those, then is your reason just the factor that they look a lot less appealing or are you aware of what runs behind those striations.
A study published in 2016 in Italian Journal of Animal Science, deciphered those lines for us. These white lines running parallel to muscles is actually a muscle disorder in chickens, known as ‘White Striping’. First of all, before you chuck the chicken, this is not something that affects the health or food safety measures. What it impacts is the nutritional value of chicken and chemical composition of it. According to the same study, such pieces are higher in fat content and lower in protein levels. The most worrisome observation that brought it to the limelight was the fact that they said fat content goes up to 224%. Yes, you read it correctly, that’s a staggering figure. So not really that lean meat, but still hold your chickens, nutritionists still say it’s a better option.
The reason behind this is a big mystery, one we are trying to analyze. So far the demand and supply for it has been blamed. Meaning the strain of trying to meet this increasing demand has led to more production of these birds using feeds and hybrid methods. The weight and time in which chicken now reaches market have changed to boost the supply. However even organic and traditionally raised chickens may also suffer from this condition.
So let’s leave the matter to marinade, meanwhile, you can still consume chicken, just be sure to pick a cleaner one, for a more sumptuous treat.
Photocredits: Freepik