Chicken consumers are still confused

In the last couple of weeks I have been asked many times about why processed chickens in the U.S. are so large. They specifically ask about chicken breasts, which seem huge. The questioners really believe that it must be due to some “un-natural” process, such as hormones or antibiotics or something.
The truth is really very simple: genetics. Over the last 50 years, there has been a very strong genetic selection of broilers, which has greatly reduced the amount of time that it takes for a bird to be ready for market. In the case of the U.S. in particular, selecting birds for large breast meat has been a primary focus of the primary breeding companies.
Another reason for the large birds is that in the U.S. birds go to market an average of two weeks later than in many other areas of the world. So, the birds really are much bigger. There are other factors, such as injecting brine into the chicken during processing, a common practice across the world, but which has suddenly come into question in the U.S. It’s primarily genetic selection, however, that accounts for the large chickens. It’s not hormones (which are never used), and not antibiotic growth promoters (which do not directly affect growth, but rather allow for better absorption of nutrients and which are not used by some major U.S. producers).
However, the average consumer is not convinced: they are sure that “something bad” is fed, injected or pumped into chickens to make them get that big. ...Read the full blog on www.animalagnet.com.