Friday, June 20: Americans love the taste of chicken, and every year, we eat about 90 pounds of poultry per person, which is a lot of drumsticks and chicken breasts. Gwen Schoen with the MCT News Service complied the following quiz to find out how much you know about the chicken you shop for. Here’s a true-false test that has some questions and answers that will surprise you.
Keep in mind that I recommend shopping for free-range chicken, which is nutritionally miles ahead of the commercially processed chicken that you can purchase in a supermarket or even a health food store. The following questions relate to the commercial chicken you see in supermarkets.
1. All chickens labeled “100 percent natural” are just chicken, nothing else added. True or false?
The answer is false. Anytime you see the word “Natural” on any type of food, it’s meaningless. Food manufacturers are allowed free reign, so caveat emptor.
2. If you read the small print, about half of the chickens sold as “100 percent natural” have been injected with broth and salt. True or false?
This statement is true. Are you surprised?
3. USDA rules allow chicken processors to inject chickens with water, broth and sodium, and still label them as natural. True or false?
If you’re a fast learner, then you already know this statement is true.
4. Some enhanced chickens (broth-injected) contain as much as 330 mg of sodium. True or false?
Another true statement. Those chickens are salty! But that’s because we’re used that type of taste.
5. A chicken that has not been enhanced generally contains 40 to 65 mg of sodium. True or false?
This is true, so it pays to take a look at labels.
6. Some natural chickens have carrageenan on the ingredients list. Carrageenan is a seaweed product and therefore qualifies as natural. True or false?
This statement is true.
7. Injections increase the weight of the chicken, so consumers end up paying more for protein they aren’t getting. True or false?
Since this answer is true, you can see how injections are like how the butcher used to place his thumb on the scale when your grandparents were children.
8. If the label on the chicken has a Heart Check symbol, it indicates that the chicken has not been injected with sodium. True or false?
You would think this statement is true, but it’s actually false.
9. Consumers can tell if a chicken has any injected ingredients by reading the ingredients listed on the label. True or false?
Thank goodness this sentence is true.
Instead of worrying about sodium and injected ingredients, buy your free-range chicken from a source you can trust.
Sources: Nutrition Action Healthletter, published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest; Truthful Labeling Coalition; and the California Poultry Federation.