Re: Chickens coming home to roost?

"Harry Lowes" <hl@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:A_ydnaqFN6i9h-zVnZ2dnUVZ8qGdnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> "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.' "
>
The easy availability of intensively reared chickens in supermarkets for 
years has taught people what they think chickens should taste like.
When I was a child, chicken was a treat, at Christmas or Easter, reared by

my grandfather and there is no comparison for taste at all.