The Chicken We Buy, The Chicken We Cook
From the supermarket shelf to the pot — and what isn’t on the label
Author:
Cyrus Akbari Shadbad
Poultry Nutrition Specialist, R&D Expert
In this article:
1. The weekly shop
2. Three grades, three stories
3. Fancy packaging, higher price
4. Chicken skin: harmful or maligned?
5. Frozen chicken: a common misconception
6. In the kitchen: should we wash it?
7. In the pot: what is that dark foam?
8. Cooking: temperature at the center, not spices
9. Marinating and charcoal grilling
10. Back to the shelf
- The weekly shop
I went to buy chicken for the week. The chiller shelf was full of colorful packages, labeled A+, A, and B. Green, blue, orange.
I stopped and looked. What actually is the difference between these three? And why doesn’t anyone explain it?
The shop assistant saw me staring at the packages and smiled — the kind of smile that says, “So you’re one of those who reads the label?” I smiled back. “I try,” I said.
Just then, a woman standing next to me asked: “Excuse me, do you know what the difference is between A+, A, and B? I always hesitate in this section.” I explained. Then she asked: “Is bigger better, or smaller? Like these 1,200-gram ones?”
I laughed. “It depends on the dish. For a stew, smaller is better. For a kebab, larger. But for cooking, what matters more than weight is how the carcass was chilled.”
In that moment, I thought: these are exactly the questions my articles are about. Questions asked in a supermarket, whose answers lie in the slaughterhouse and on the farm.
Then I picked up a package myself. The label read: Grade B, weight 2,870 grams.
I stopped again. 2,870 grams. This is the kind of large bird the regulations describe: “A whole chicken over 2,200 grams, slaughtered in a Grade A slaughterhouse, may not be sold directly to market and must be cut and packaged only in authorized packaging units.” [1] But this bird was Grade B — meaning it came from a Grade B slaughterhouse, and was sold whole. The regulation’s restriction, it seems, applies only to Grade A slaughterhouses.
I put it in my basket and went home. Only then did I realize that buying is just the beginning. The kitchen is where the story continues: washing, cutting, cooking. And each step raises a new question.
2. Three grades, three stories
According to the Iranian Veterinary Organization’s program for improving poultry meat hygiene [1], the difference between grades lies in how the slaughterhouse operates:
Grade A+ — an industrial slaughterhouse with automated equipment. The viscera are removed by machine, and the carcass is air-chilled; meaning it absorbs no water.
Grade A — evisceration is fully automated, but chilling is done with water, and the carcass absorbs some water.
Grade B — evisceration is manual, and parts of the viscera — such as the lungs or trachea — may remain in the carcass.
There’s a lesser-known detail in the same program: spent hens (breeders or layers), if slaughtered in a Grade A facility with complete automated evisceration, may be cut and sold as “spent hen” (diriz) without a grade on the label, for bulk and industrial use. In other words, a package of cut chicken may contain an older hen. You just have to read the label.
3. Fancy packaging, higher price: a health choice or a matter of taste?
Side by side, you see two options: a whole chicken with a grade label in simple packaging, and cut chicken in fancy packaging at a higher price. Does the higher price have a health justification?
The Veterinary Organization’s program [1] states that independent cutting units must source their chicken from Grade A slaughterhouses, but they are permitted to cut and package large birds slaughtered in Grade B facilities (with “Grade B” on the label), and spent hens without a grade. This isn’t against the law; it simply means that what you see in the package hasn’t necessarily come from the best source. The truth is on the label — if anyone reads it.
Cutting also costs money: labor, packaging, controlled cold storage. Those costs are added to the price, but they don’t mean greater safety; they mean more processing. A whole Grade A+ chicken, by contrast, comes with a traceable identity: slaughter date, slaughterhouse name, license number. And because it was air-chilled, it absorbed no water.
So the choice depends on your priorities:
· If transparency and hygiene matter most: a whole Grade A+ chicken.
· If convenience and saving time matter most: cut chicken — provided you read the label and know the source.
· If price matters most: a whole Grade A or B chicken is usually cheaper — but be aware that Grade B involves manual evisceration.
4. Chicken skin: harmful or maligned?
Here’s another choice: chicken with skin, or skinless chicken at a higher price. The common belief is that chicken skin is harmful; some even say it’s toxic, or full of hormones, or drug residues. It’s natural to reach for the skinless bird, even if it costs more. But the reality is different.
Nutritionally, chicken skin is mostly fat and high in calories. But its fatty acid composition is the part that’s rarely mentioned:
Chicken fat is predominantly unsaturated, and its dominant fatty acid is oleic acid — the same beneficial fatty acid found in olive oil. Oleic acid is a monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) that helps lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol while preserving HDL (“good”) cholesterol.
By contrast, the dominant fat in large ruminants (cattle and sheep) is palmitic acid — a saturated fatty acid that raises LDL. The proportion of saturated fat in red meat is higher than in chicken.
In other words, in terms of fatty acid profile, chicken has a nutritional advantage over red meat — one reason nutritionists recommend it as a partial replacement for red meat.
An important note: chicken skin isn’t only fat. It also contains collagen — the very protein many people buy as a supplement for skin and joints.
The color of chicken skin (white or yellow) is genetically determined in some breeds. Some breeds naturally have yellower skin. In others, skin color depends on the diet — for example, the use of corn or natural pigments. Neither is a sign of better or worse quality. Yellow skin is simply a visual characteristic.
Is chicken skin “toxic”?
Hormones: The use of growth hormones in poultry is banned in many countries, including the EU — and in Iran as well. Modern chickens grow faster thanks to genetics and precise nutrition, not hormones. A modern broiler reaches market weight in about 40 days. That speed is the result of decades of selective breeding and improved diets, not injections.
The common belief: “A chick growing from 40 grams to 3 kilograms in 50 days can only be the work of hormones.”
The scientific reality: This growth is the result of genetics and diet. A poultry starter diet contains roughly 22% protein and 3,000 kcal of energy per kilogram. For comparison: breast milk contains about 1.1 grams of protein and 66 kcal per 100 milliliters — roughly 11 grams of protein and 660 kcal per liter. The nutrient density of a poultry diet is far higher than that of breast milk. And if a hormone were involved, it would have to be in that diet — yet the diet consists only of corn, soybean meal, vitamins, and minerals.
Antibiotics: Used for treatment, and the withdrawal period (the time between the last dose and slaughter) ensures residues fall below permitted limits.
Arsenic: In the past, some countries used arsenic-based drugs in poultry feed, and research showed that inorganic arsenic could accumulate in their meat [2]. The United States subsequently halted the sale of these drugs [3].
So why is chicken skin so maligned?
Three reasons:
First, saturated fat and high calories; for people with high cholesterol, heart disease, or type 2 diabetes, heavy consumption of skin is not recommended.
Second, weight gain from overconsumption.
Third, the cooking method: skin that burns over an open flame produces carcinogenic compounds — but that’s a flaw in the method, not in the skin itself.
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So if you’re on a low-fat diet, skinless chicken is a reasonable choice. But if you believe the skin is “toxic,” that belief has no solid scientific basis. Sometimes the higher price of skinless chicken reflects more processing, and sometimes it reflects a fear rooted in a mistaken belief.
5. Frozen chicken: a common misconception
Frozen chicken doesn’t necessarily mean lower quality. Fast freezing (at very low temperatures) halts bacterial growth and preserves meat quality. In some cases, frozen chicken is actually better than “fresh” chicken that has sat in a supermarket chiller for several days — because it was frozen under controlled conditions, immediately after slaughter.
But one important point: thawing at room temperature is dangerous. Bacteria multiply rapidly at room temperature. The best method is thawing in the refrigerator — even if it takes a few hours longer.
Keep fresh chicken in the refrigerator for one to two days at most. Keep frozen chicken in the freezer for several months. And always check the slaughter date — not the “fresh” label.
6. In the kitchen: should we wash it?
Now we’re home. The first question: do you wash the chicken? And if so, with warm or cold water?
The answer is neither — and warm water is especially discouraged. Washing chicken with warm water doesn’t eliminate bacteria like Salmonella; it spreads them. Warm water spray carries droplets — and bacteria — onto the sink, the counter, nearby dishes, and even onto you [4][5].
So if you insist on washing the chicken, cold water is better than warm — but the best approach is not to wash it at all. Water spreads bacteria across the sink and counter. Wash the surfaces and utensils that touched it instead, and cook the chicken thoroughly. The only thing that truly eliminates bacteria is bringing the center of the meat to 74°C [6].
7. In the pot: what is that dark foam?
We put the chicken in the pot, and when the water comes to a boil, a dark foam appears on the surface. Many people think it’s dirt — or worse, drug residues, vaccine, aflatoxin (a fungal toxin that can form in animal feed), or blood. They worry that if they don’t skim it off, they’re eating “poison.”
But that foam is something else: soluble meat proteins (such as myoglobin) that are driven out of the tissue by heat, coagulate, and rise to the surface along with fat and moisture. If the carcass wasn’t fully bled, or if you’re cooking pieces like thighs and drumsticks (which have more capillaries), the foam is darker.
Aflatoxin isn’t in it either; residues in chicken tissue are negligible and tend to remain in the liver and kidneys, not in breast or thigh meat [7][8]. Nor are drugs or vaccines: the foam is a physical phenomenon (protein coagulation), not a chemical one. So skim it off with a spoon — not because it’s toxic, but because it has an unpleasant smell and clouds the broth. If you leave it, nothing bad will happen.
8. Cooking: temperature at the center, not spices
Onion and turmeric do more than add flavor: onion helps reduce the meaty odor, and turmeric contains antioxidants. But neither is a substitute for thorough cooking. Spices add flavor; temperature adds safety.
To measure, a meat thermometer is the kitchen’s best friend. Insert the tip into the thickest part of the thigh, away from the bone, and wait for 74°C. (Meat thermometers are available in kitchen supply stores or online. They cost less than a chicken.)
· A pot on the stove is the most economical method, and with enough time, the safest. The catch is that the center of the meat heats more slowly than the surrounding water, so don’t rush it.
· The oven provides more even heat. The chicken’s internal temperature rises a little after removal — but only a few degrees. Don’t rely on that, and don’t take it out early.
· Grilling is riskier from a safety standpoint, because the surface can burn while the center is still raw.
9. Marinating and charcoal grilling
We marinate chicken with lemon juice, onion, and turmeric — a valuable tradition, but not a disinfectant. Research from Drexel University has shown that washing raw chicken with an acidic solution — lemon juice or vinegar — does not eliminate Salmonella and may even help spread it through the wash water. The user may develop a false sense of security [9].
In the laboratory, onion extract, garlic, and turmeric’s curcumin have shown antibacterial effects against Salmonella — but at concentrations far higher than we use in cooking. So marinating contaminated chicken does not make it “safe.” Only thorough cooking does.
A practical note: marinating overnight in the refrigerator is fine, because cold slows bacterial growth. But on the counter at room temperature, Salmonella multiplies quickly.
And then there’s charcoal grilling. The flavor is unmatched, but it’s also one of the riskiest cooking methods. Two groups of harmful compounds form:
Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) — formed at high heat from the reaction of amino acids, sugars, and creatine in muscle.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) — deposited on the meat from the smoke of fat dripping onto the fire.
Benzo[a]pyrene, the best-known PAH, is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a human carcinogen [10].
The good news is that the risk can be reduced:
· Marinate the chicken beforehand with lemon juice, onion, garlic, and turmeric; the antioxidants in these ingredients help inhibit HCA formation.
· Partially cook the chicken in the oven or microwave before grilling, to shorten its contact time with the flame.
· Increase the distance between the meat and the flame, and prevent fat from dripping onto the fire.
· Set aside charred portions, and if risk matters to you, remove the skin before grilling.
10. Back to the shelf
We return to the supermarket shelf. Now, when we pick up the Grade A+ package, we know what we’re choosing: a chicken that was air-chilled, absorbed no water, and had its viscera fully removed.
But we also know the label doesn’t tell the whole story. The diet the chicken ate, the health of its gut, and the formula hidden behind the factory doors are things no label can show.
What isn’t on the label lives in the chicken’s feed, in its drinking water, and in our own beliefs. And we need to know where to look.
References
1. Iranian Veterinary Organization. Program for Improving Poultry Meat Hygiene.
2. Nachman KE et al. (2013). Roxarsone, inorganic arsenic, and other arsenic species in chicken. Environmental Health Perspectives.
3. Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (2016). New Research Supports FDA Decision to Ban Poultry Drug.
4. University of Wisconsin Food Safety (2011). Wash Your Hands… Not Your Poultry.
5. Drexel University (2019). Why Washing Chicken Before Cooking Is Unsafe (reported by BioSpace, 2015).
6. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.
7. Residues of aflatoxin B1 in broiler meat: Effect of age and dietary aflatoxin B1 levels (2010). Food and Chemical Toxicology.
8. Sahib Alam et al. (2020). Carryover of aflatoxin B1 from feed to broilers’ tissues and its effect on chicken performance. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin.
9. Effect of acidic washing on Salmonella on raw chicken (2019). Food Control.
10. IARC (2012). Chemical Agents and Related Occupations. IARC Monographs, Volume 100F.
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