E good to eat chicken wit di skin?

31 August 2022

Among animal meats, you fit argue am o!, chicken be di world favorite.

E be di meat wey pipo dey chop past for di world: di Food and Agriculture Organization of di United Nations (FAO) estimates say pipo chop 133 million tonnes of white meat worldwide for 2021.

To eat chicken dey popular sake of say e dey generally cheap, low fat, and no too dey enter cultural or religious wahala.

Make we add, e be protein-rich meat and important source of vitamins and minerals.

E also get better levels of useful monounsaturated fats, wey fit support cardiovascular health.

However, dis popular food also be like say surround by doubts and lie-lie beliefs.

For example, chicken skin dey known to contain high level of fat. So, e good to chop chicken wit di skin on am, or make pesin remove am before e cook or chop am?

"Chicken skin be 32% fat, wey mean say for every 100g of skin we chop, 32g be fat," María Dolores Fernández Pazos, nutritionist for di Centro de Información Nutricional de Carne de Pollo (CINCAP) for Argentina.

Among dis fats wey dey chicken skin, she explain, two-thirds be unsaturated fats, wey dem dey call "good fats", wey dey helep to improve blood cholesterol levels.

And anoda third of di fats be saturated fats, one of di so-called "harmful" fats, wey dey contribute to raise di level of "bad" cholesterol.

Dis is di same level of fat wey dey chicken meat.

Therefore, di expert tok, "if we chop chicken wit di skin, we dey increase di caloric intake of each serving by about 50 percent.

"So, for example, if we chop 196g skinless breast e mean say we dey chop 284 calories (according to US Department of Agriculture Nutrition Data), 80% of di calories from protein and 20% from fat.

But dis dey figure increase wella if dem no include di skin: di breast contain 386 calories, wey im 50% come from protein and 50% from fat.

Dis no why, according to nutritionist Dolores Fernández, "di healthiest and most general recommendation for di population be to remove (di skin) before pesin chop am, so one no go add extra calories or fat to di dish" .

E dey okay to refreeze chicken wey dem don defrost?

"No. E no dey advisable to refreeze chicken meat wey dem don defrost," di CINCAP nutritionist tok.

"Di purpose of freezing food be to stop di microorganisms wey dey di foodmake dem no reproduce.

Therefore, when di food don dey defrost, dis microorganisms fit start to reproduce again."

Dis advice apply to all meats wey dem don defrost. Di only safe way to refreeze dem be when dem already dey cooked.

"Dis way, wit safe cooking, wego fit cancel di presence of microorganisms and we go dey able to refreeze di meat, to guarantee di organoleptic properties and safety of di product", Dolores Fernández give assurance.

Wetin be di best way to defrost chicken?

According to sabi pipo, di best way to defrost chicken be to put am for fridge.

“To defrost at room temperature fit favor di development of di microorganisms wey we tok about earlier and affect di product”.

To defrost for frigde dey slower and fit take up to 24 hours for one whole chicken. Di best time to commot di chicken from di freezer suppose dey planned in advance.

Experts stress say di chicken meat suppose no dey defrost for room temperature or for hot water.

Why e be say some stores dey sell yellow chicken and odas dey sell pink chicken? Some better pass di odas?

Di color of chicken meat fit vary depending on di pigments wey dey di cereals dem dey use for diet, di CINCAP expert further explain.

Cereals like maize contain higher concentration of pigments dan white sorghum or wheat, wey contain less.

And for some kontries, sake of consumer preference, e be one natural pigment dem sometimes dey add to poultry feed to give di meat one yellowish color.

But from nutritional point of view, Dolores Fernández tok, " no difference dey between di properties and di nutritional contribution of one yellow chicken and one pinkish white chicken".

How to avoid chicken meat poisoning?

Chicken, as we see, be one of di most nutritious, popular and food wey pipo dey chop wella in di world, but e also often be major source of food poisoning.

Raw meat dey dey contaminated wit Campylobacter bacteria and sometimes also wit Salmonella and Clostridium perfringens.

So if you chop chicken wey dem no cook wella or contaminate oda foods or drinks wit raw chicken or di juices, you fit get food poisoning.

Di US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate say approximately one million pipo for di United States become sick every year afta dem chop contaminated poultry.

Dis be di basic tips from di expert for di Chicken Meat Nutrition Information Center:

Always wash your hands before you prepare all types of food and some times during food preparation, especially if you dey handle raw and cooked foods same time.

To avoid cross-contamination: When you dey handle poultry and oda raw foods, use different equipment and utensils and avoid contact wit cooked and/or ready-to-eat foods.