Chicken consumers are still confused

bonderic

Chicken consumers are still confused

• [url=]Posted by[/url]Chris Wright[url=]on March 4, 2010 at 3:19pm[/url]

In the last couple of weeks I have been asked many times about why processed chickens in the U.S. are so large. They specifically ask about chicken breasts, which seem huge. The questioners really believe that it must be due to some “un-natural” process, such as hormones or antibiotics or something.

The truth is really very simple: genetics. Over the last 50 years, there has been a very strong genetic selection of broilers, which has greatly reduced the amount of time that it takes for a bird to be ready for market. In the case of the U.S. in particular, selecting birds for large breast meat has been a primary focus of the primary breeding companies.

Another reason for the large birds is that in the U.S. birds go to market an average of two weeks later than in many other areas of the world. So, the birds really are much bigger.
There are other factors, such as injecting brine into the chicken during processing, a common practice across the world, but which has suddenly come into question in the U.S.
It’s primarily genetic selection, however, that accounts for the large chickens. It’s not hormones (which are never used), and not antibiotic growth promoters (which do not directly affect growth, but rather allow for better absorption of nutrients and which are not used by some major U.S. producers).

However, the average consumer is not convinced: they are sure that “something bad” is fed, injected or pumped into chickens to make them get that big.

The challenge to educate the consumers falls directly on the shoulders of the poultry industry. From what I can see, the job is not being done very well. How best to do the job right is an interesting and difficult question. This is not exactly scintillating stuff that will keep someone´s attention for long. Still, the message needs to get out to the public.

Consumers are very concerned with their health and how the food they eat affects it. They seem willing to accept the many scare stories that they keep hearing (over and over) about their food.
It’s up to the poultry industry to counter those false stories and demonstrate that chicken is a safe and healthy food.

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孫銳利

我英文不好，看不懂啊，好羨慕你們！

bonderic

這個問題挺有趣的，原來國外的消費者也是存在像我們國內消費者同樣的困惑。
我周圍很多的朋友，包括一些新招來作為飼料業務員的大學生也同樣認為是現在的雞長速這么快，與飼料中添加激素或者是一些其它藥物來催長的。每到這種時刻我總會充當科學普及者，告訴他們與這篇文章作者類似的觀點。