Chicken has established itself as a ingredient essential in the Spanish diet that stands out for its versatility and nutritional value. According to Statista data, per capita chicken consumption in Spain reached 10.5 kilos in 2022a preference that is largely due to the ease with which chicken adapts to various recipes and their health benefits, such as its low fat content and high protein content. In this context, nutritionist Pablo Ojeda, in his regular participation in the Kiss FM program ‘Las Mañanas’, has denied certain popular beliefs about this food, specifically, about the color of chicken.
Is yellow chicken healthier?
According to Ojeda, color has nothing to do with the freshness and quality of the meat. “Even though the chicken is yellower, it doesn’t mean it’s healthier. They charge you 5 euros more but they have simply given it corn, which is yellow, and it makes it yellower,” explains the nutritionist.
“They are cousins/brothers,” he adds. In that sense, both yellow and white chicken They come from the same poultry strains and they pass by similar breeding processesmaintaining a constant quality and nutritional value regardless of its external appearance.
The only difference is that chickens yellow They usually have a diet that includes a higher proportion of natural pigments such as corn and the alfalfawhile the white meat chickens They are generally raised on a diet containing less pigments.
Demystifying chicken
Furthermore, Ojeda denies the idea that consuming chicken skin is harmful or contributes significantly to weight gain. «You can eat it perfectly. Besides, it is an area that has a lot of proteins, that has a good amount of fat, but that does not have many more calories than chicken, some 50-70 calories“, it states.
Finally, Ojeda confesses that many people wash the chicken before cooking ita practice that, according to him, can be counterproductive. Washing under the tap and wiping dry can disperse bacteriaincreasing the risk of cross contamination in the kitchen. These bacteria could be responsible for stomach pains that we often fail to identify. Ojeda emphasizes that “chicken should never be cleaned,” since the birds areprone to having more bacteriaand wiping and drying with a cloth can promote the proliferation of these bacteria in other places in the kitchen.
