Re: Chickens coming home to roost?

In article <A_ydnaqFN6i9h-zVnZ2dnUVZ8qGdnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
   Harry Lowes <hl@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "It will undoubtedly ruffle a few feathers among campaigning celebrity 
> chefs. But according to a new scientific study, organically reared
chickens 
> are not as flavoursome as intensively farmed birds. The findings fly in
the 
> face of claims by campaigners who argue that consumers should opt for 
> chickens which are allowed to roam outdoors. They say this environment
makes 
> for a naturally tastier option on the dinner table and justifies the
more 
> expensive price tag - up to three times as much as a battery farmed
bird. 
> But according to a study published in the journal British Poultry
Science, a 
> survey found that the cheaper birds had a better flavour and texture.

> The research was carried out at Bristol University and involved a panel
of 
> ten tasters blind tasting samples from 120 chickens which had been
reared in 
> various ways. Dr Paul Warriss, who led the study at the university's
school 
> of veterinary science, said: 'In general, higher ratings were given for 
> texture, juiciness, flavour and overall preference for meat from the
birds 
> reared in the standard system.' He added: 'The common perception is that

> organic chickens will be much tastier, but this was not the case. 'This
may 
> be to do with the fact that intensively farmed birds are eaten at a much

> younger age, so they will be less tough than older birds.' "

> Full article at 
>
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1032513/Organic-chickens-flavoursome-intensively-farmed-birds-researchers-say.html

> or http://tinyurl.com/6cbx8t

Having read all the replies to date......

I've no iea whether free range has better flavour/texture than intensive -
I don't buy intensive chicken.

You eat what <you> like - bland or flavoursome, <you> are eating it and it
is up to you.

Now, on the topic of intensive v free range v organic.....

In the first place, I'm against the most intensive poultry rearing whether
cage or floor. It's indefensible on welfare grounds  and provides ideal
conditions for disease to develop - viruses mutate naturally and the large
number of closely packed birds gives optimum conditions for every mutation
to find hosts to get going.

Having said all that, there are degrees; not all indoor production is bad
-
conditions <can> be made good - and not all free range is good; poultry
needs shelter from bad weather - hens don't like rain on their backs.
Trouble is that we don't have adequate descriptions of the rearing
conditions -  the words "intensive" and "free range" do not tell us enough
to choose sensibly.

Organic. I dunno. Again, I'd say common sense except that <again> we don't
have adequate descriptions. I'm neither totally for nor against.

No idea which tastes better - if there really is an overall difference. We
don't know here how the birds in the test were raised/prepared/cooked and
any of these can make a difference to the results; so can how the tester
is
feeling - as somebody here pointed out.

In the final event, what people buy depends on what people will pay for.
Whether they are more concerned about getting the flavour they like
(whichever that is), whether they really care about animal welfare and
disease - and use of medicines to combat disease, whether they believe
"organic" is worth extra money or whether they are primarily concerned (or
forced by cir***stances to be) about "how much".

Cheers
jane

-- 

Jane Gillett   :   j.gillett@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
   :   Totnes, Devon.