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Chicken as food: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Chicken as food
In 2011, the United Nations estimated there were 19 billion chickens on Earth, outnumbering humans by more than two to one. This staggering population is not a natural phenomenon but the result of a deliberate, global engineering project that began thousands of years ago. The modern chicken is a hybrid descendant of the red junglefowl and the grey junglefowl, first domesticated in the northern Indian subcontinent. While Babylonian carvings from around 600 BC depict chicken as a meat source, the bird did not become a global staple until the 20th century. For most of human history, chicken was a luxury item, reserved for the wealthy because it was more expensive than beef or pork. In the United States during the 1800s, chicken was so costly that it was considered an uncommon dish, sought only by the rich. The shift from a rare delicacy to the most common meat on the planet was driven by the relative ease and low cost of raising chickens compared to mammals like cattle or hogs. This transition accelerated during World War II, when shortages of beef and pork forced American consumers to turn to poultry, setting the stage for a permanent change in global dietary habits. By 1996, chicken consumption in Europe had finally overtaken that of beef and veal, a shift linked to public fear of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease. Today, 357 million tonnes of chicken meat were produced in 2021, representing more than half of the global increase in meat production since 2000.
The Biology of Fast Food
The chicken that fills supermarket freezers is biologically distinct from the birds of the past, bred specifically for speed and efficiency. Modern varieties such as the Cornish Cross are hybrids engineered to maximize the ratio of feed to meat produced. In the United States, these broilers are butchered at an incredibly young age, with some reaching market weight as early as 8 weeks for fryers and 12 weeks for roasting birds. This rapid growth is a stark contrast to the capons, or castrated cocks, which were once considered a delicacy in the Middle Ages for producing more and fattier meat. The industry has prioritized the Cornish and White Rock breeds, which dominate the American market, over the diverse varieties that were once common. The physical structure of these birds has been altered to suit industrial processing, with the breast meat, which is white and relatively dry, becoming the most valuable cut. The leg, comprising the drumstick and thigh, is classified as dark meat, while the wing is often sold as a light meal or bar food. The very anatomy of the chicken has been manipulated to fit the demands of fast food chains, where products like Buffalo wings, invented in Buffalo, New York, are deep-fried and coated in sauce to become a staple of American cuisine. The efficiency of this system is so high that the United States Department of Agriculture classifies cuts of poultry in a manner similar to beef, standardizing the bird into predictable units for a global market.
Chicken did not become a global staple until the 20th century. The shift from a rare delicacy to the most common meat on the planet accelerated during World War II when shortages of beef and pork forced American consumers to turn to poultry. By 1996, chicken consumption in Europe had finally overtaken that of beef and veal.
What breeds of chicken dominate the American market today?
The industry has prioritized the Cornish and White Rock breeds, which dominate the American market. Modern varieties such as the Cornish Cross are hybrids engineered to maximize the ratio of feed to meat produced. These birds are bred specifically for speed and efficiency to suit industrial processing.
When was the use of roxarsone banned in poultry production?
Manufacturers voluntarily withdrew approval for roxarsone and two other arsenic poultry drugs in September 2013. The final remaining arsenic drug, nitarsone, was banned at the end of 2015. A 2013 sample conducted by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health found that 70% of chicken meat samples from producers that did not prohibit roxarsone exceeded safety limits set by the FDA.
What is the safe minimum cooking temperature for raw chicken?
Raw chicken may contain Salmonella, requiring a safe minimum cooking temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent illness. A 2012 survey by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine found that 48% of chicken samples contained fecal matter. The bacteria survive in freezing temperatures and can grow if the food is not defrosted and reheated properly.
How are juvenile chickens marketed in the United Kingdom?
In the United Kingdom, juvenile chickens of less than 28 days of age at slaughter are marketed as poussin. Mature chicken is sold as small, medium, or large. In the United States, whole mature chickens are marketed as fryers, broilers, and roasters, with fryers being the smallest size at 2.5 to 4 pounds.
Beneath the convenience of cheap chicken lies a complex web of chemical interventions and health risks that have emerged alongside industrial farming. In factory farming, chickens are routinely administered roxarsone, an organoarsenic compound used to control stomach pathogens and promote growth. This compound partially decomposes into inorganic arsenic, which compounds in the flesh of the chickens and in their feces, often used as fertilizer. A 2013 sample conducted by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health found that 70% of chicken meat samples from producers that did not prohibit roxarsone exceeded safety limits set by the FDA. Although the FDA revised its stance on safe limits, the manufacturers voluntarily withdrew approval for roxarsone and two other arsenic poultry drugs in September 2013, and the final remaining arsenic drug, nitarsone, was banned at the end of 2015. The use of antibiotics in poultry production has created a parallel crisis of resistance. Information from the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance strongly indicates that cephalosporin resistance in humans is moving in lockstep with the use of the drug in poultry production. A study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute showed that nearly half of the meat and poultry in US grocery stores was contaminated with S. aureus, with more than half of those bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Furthermore, more than 25% of retail chicken is resistant to 5 or more different classes of antibiotic treatment drugs in the United States. The industry argues that data is contested, yet the link between antibiotic use in eggs and resistance in humans appears direct, with unapproved antibiotics like ceftiofur routinely injected into eggs in Quebec and Ontario to discourage infection of hatchlings.
The Fecal Reality
The journey of a chicken from farm to table is often a path of contamination that is difficult to fully eliminate. On most commercial chicken farms, the birds spend their entire life standing in, lying on, and living in their own manure, which is mixed with bedding materials like sawdust or wood shavings. During shipping to the abattoir, chickens are placed in crates with slatted floors, piled 5 to 10 rows high on transport trucks. As the chickens defecate during transit, the manure sits inside the crowded cages, raining down on the birds and crates on lower levels. By the time the truck reaches the slaughterhouse, most chickens have skin and feathers contaminated with feces. The high-speed automated processes at the abattoir are not designed to remove this fecal contamination on the feather and skin, and the equipment tends to spray the contamination around to the birds going down the processing line. Chemical sprays and baths, such as bleach, acids, and peroxides, are used to partially rinse off or kill bacterial contamination, but once fecal matter has entered the membranes between the skin and muscle, it is impossible to completely remove. A 2012 survey by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine found that 48% of chicken samples contained fecal matter. This reality stands in stark contrast to the image of a clean, fresh product, as the bacteria survive in freezing temperatures and can grow if the food is not defrosted and reheated properly. The risk of foodborne illness is compounded by the fact that raw chicken may contain Salmonella, requiring a safe minimum cooking temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent illness.
The Anatomy of Consumption
The way humans consume chicken has evolved from a whole-bird tradition to a fragmented system of parts, each with its own cultural significance and culinary application. In the United Kingdom, juvenile chickens of less than 28 days of age at slaughter are marketed as poussin, while mature chicken is sold as small, medium, or large. In the United States, whole mature chickens are marketed as fryers, broilers, and roasters, with fryers being the smallest size at 2.5 to 4 pounds and broilers being larger. The names reflect the most appropriate cooking method for the surface area to volume ratio, as frying a large piece of chicken results in the inside being undercooked when the outside is ready. The bird is broken down into quarters, with a leg quarter containing the thigh, drumstick, and a portion of the back, and a breast quarter containing the breast, wing, and portion of the back. Chicken livers and gizzards are commonly available packaged separately, while other parts such as the neck, feet, and combs are not widely available except in countries where they are in demand. In Asian countries, it is possible to buy bones alone, which are very popular for making chicken soups, and in Australia, rib cages and backs are frequently sold cheaply as chicken frames. The head, considered a delicacy in China, is split down the middle, and the brain and other tissue are eaten. Chicken feet, which contain relatively little meat, are eaten mainly for the skin and cartilage, and are common fare in the Caribbean, China, and Vietnam. The pygostyle, or chicken's buttocks, and testicles are commonly eaten in East Asia and some parts of South East Asia, while the oysters, small round pieces of dark meat located on the back near the thigh, are often considered a delicacy.
The Global Table
Chicken has become a universal language of food, with fast food chains selling exclusively or primarily poultry products across the globe. KFC, Red Rooster in Australia, Hector Chicken in Belgium, and CFC in Indonesia are just a few of the many chains that have made chicken a staple of their menus. Most of the products on the menus in such eateries are fried or breaded and served with french fries, reflecting a global preference for convenience. However, the preparation of chicken varies significantly among cultures, with Western cuisine frequently using deep frying for fast foods such as fried chicken, chicken nuggets, and chicken lollipops. Eastern cuisine has chicken prepared by marination, especially chicken Philippine adobo, while historically common methods include roasting, baking, broasting, and frying. In Japan, raw chicken is sometimes consumed in a dish called torisashi, which is sliced raw chicken served in sashimi style, or lightly seared on the outsides while the inside remains raw. The versatility of the bird allows it to be made into sausages, skewered, put in salads, or used in various curries. Chicken bones, which are hazardous to health as they tend to break into sharp splinters when eaten, can be simmered with vegetables and herbs for hours or even days to make chicken stock. In Asian countries, it is possible to buy bones alone, which are very popular for making chicken soups, and in Australia, rib cages and backs are frequently sold cheaply as chicken frames. The chicken has become a symbol of global connectivity, with its preparation methods adapting to local tastes while maintaining its status as the most common type of poultry in the world.
The Future of the Flock
The future of chicken as food is shaped by the tension between consumer demand for cheap, convenient meat and the growing awareness of the health and environmental costs of industrial farming. The United States Department of Agriculture classifies cuts of poultry in a manner similar to beef, and the industry continues to prioritize breeds like the Cornish Cross, which are bred specifically for meat production. However, the use of antibiotics and arsenic compounds has led to increased scrutiny and regulation, with the FDA revising its stance on safe limits and manufacturers voluntarily withdrawing approval for certain drugs. The public is becoming more aware of the risks associated with chicken consumption, including the presence of fecal matter and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In response, there is a growing movement toward organic chicken, which has been found to have a lower incidence of antibiotic resistance at 84% compared to 90 to 100% in conventional chicken. The industry is also exploring new methods of farming, such as free-range and pasture-raised systems, which aim to reduce the reliance on antibiotics and improve the welfare of the birds. The history of chicken, from its origins as a rare delicacy in the Indian subcontinent to its current status as the most produced type of meat in the world, is a story of human ingenuity and adaptation. As the global population continues to grow, the demand for chicken is likely to increase, but the methods of production will need to evolve to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The chicken, once a symbol of luxury, has become a symbol of the modern age, representing both the benefits and the costs of industrial agriculture.