Factors Affecting Composition of Chicken Meat. A Literature Review

SummaryIn the past decade, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on the nutritional value of food in both the raw and the processed state. Consumers are becoming more and more aware of nutritional values and many are making their food purchases based on those values.Chicken, an important item in the U.S. diet as indicated by a record high 44 pounds per person consumed in 1977 (Anon. 1978), has traditionally been considered a good buy because of its nutritional value and relatively low cost.Because of the importance of chicken in the human diet, this review considers the nutritional changes that occur from initial processing of chicken, to its preparation and consumption by the consumer.This review has three parts. Part I reports a composite of nutritional values for raw chicken from several different sources; Part II, concerns the changes in nutritional values during commercial processing; and Part III deals with changes in nutritional values during storage, handling, and preparation.