That the chickens are yellow does not mean they are "corral": this is the reason for their color
Some businesses and manufacturers take advantage of this general idea to make us believe that the animal has been bred in a more ecological way
When we buy a chicken in the market, we usually look at its color. If its flesh is more pink and its fat more whitish, we think that the animal has been raised in one of those farms in which all the specimens live crammed, has been fed with a bad feed and they do not even see the sunlight.
On the contrary, when the color in the meat of the product tends more towards the orange and its fat is more yellow, we believe that the animal has had a more "full and happy" life, in which it has been able to enjoy the countryside, good food and freedom, what we popularly call "corral" (although this denomination actually includes all birds raised or not released).
In short, it has been raised in a more ecological, sustainable and, therefore, healthy (and that, even though the ecological is not necessarily healthier ). We regret to inform you that the color is not an indication that the animal has lived happier .
"Traditionally we associate the orange color with the freedom of the chicken, since it stings everything that is put to it to throw, including wild flowers, that are rich in pigments that accumulate in the fat and the skin of the chicken giving it that characteristic color", explains the scientist and popularizer José Miguel Mulet in his latest book ¿Qué es comer sano? (Editorial Destino) and adds that, when the commercial breeding began, the feed began to be used as food for the birds, so they stopped acquiring these pigments. However, "this is not necessarily the case anymore," continues Mulet.
Carrots or corn in the diet make the chicken more yellow or orange
"The color more yellow or orange of the chicken means simply that it has had a diet with more carotenes," says JM Mulet to BuenaVida. Although it also depends on the genetics of the bird, according to clarifies Beatriz Robles , food technologist.
Carrots, marigold leaves or corn, among others, serve as dyes that can be added to the feed they eat and, depending on their genetics, "will be set better or worse in the meat of the animal," says Robles. That is to say, the meat "can be made up in a natural way", adds Mulet.
For example, when the animal is given a diet high in corn, it does not assimilate it and the pigment is deposited on its skin , dyeing it yellow, explained in an interview in the Cadena SER the general director of the Interprofessional Association of Meat Poultry. of Chicken of the Kingdom of Spain (PROPOLLO), Ángel Martín.
You can even play with the colors: "If we want to raise the orange tone, we can add caxanthin, which is a red pigment that is found naturally in various algae and fungi and is responsible for the red color of the flamingos, who get it by diet, since they are unable to synthesize it, "says Mulet in What is healthy eating?
It is clear that you should not get carried away by the color of the skin because it will not be what ensures that you are buying the type of chicken you want: "Do not assume that the chicken is a farmyard or not farmyard," says Martin. So, how can we know if it's a corral?
The requirements to certify the chicken go through the feeding of the animal and the way in which it lives
To be a corral, the product must be certified, indicated Martín in the interview with Cadena SER. The name is included in the European Regulation 543/2008 , which clarifies that chicken must be classified according to the space in which it has been bred, within which there are four categories:
1. Extensive poultry system: the degree of concentration per square meter of soil does not exceed 15 chickens and, in any case, reaches a maximum of 25 kilograms of live weight. The birds are slaughtered with 56 days or more.
2. Coop with free exit: the concentration level of the coop can be 13 chickens in the same area, provided that it does not exceed 27.5 kilograms of live weight per square meter, and the age at the time of slaughter is adjusted to the limits established in the previous point.
For at least half of their life, birds must have continuous access during the day to an outdoor space that includes an area covered in mostly vegetated, with an area equal to or greater than one square meter per chicken.
The poultry house should be provided with trapdoors with a combined length of at least 4 meters per 100 square meters of the building. And the food of the fattening period must contain at least 70% of cereals.
3. Open-air farm: the degree of concentration per square meter of floor of the poultry house can not exceed 12 birds and, in any case, a maximum of 25 kilograms of live weight and the surface area of the production site can not exceed 1,600 square meters. The chicken coop can not have more than 4,800 chickens , and it must also have trapdoors with a length of at least 4 meters per 100 square meters of building surface.
The birds must have continuous access during the day to a free space after six weeks and in case of having an area covered for the most part by vegetation it must be at least two square meters per chicken.
The fatted chickens must belong to a lineage recognized as slow growing and their diet must have at least 70% of cereals. In this case, the age of slaughter is at least 81 days and the final period of caging can not exceed 15 days for chickens over 90 days.
4. Breeding farm in freedom: the use of this category requires compliance with the rules of the "Outdoor Farm", although in this case the birds have continuous access during the day to outdoor spaces of unlimited surface .
As you will see, none of the denominations is "campero", a word that does not fall within the law and that is used as a synonym for "pollo de corral", which are all the previous ones in their different modalities. "And with respect to the ecological, it is the one that - in addition to being loose - has to be fed with corn or organic feed," says Mulet in his book.
Having less flavor does not mean it is less healthy
"The main difference is in food (feed, cereal, grains, weeds, insects, etc.), which affects the type of fat and other fat-soluble compounds stored (those that are fat-soluble and accumulate in adipose tissue)," explains dietitian-nutritionist Iva Marques .
This and the time it takes to sacrifice the animal mark the differences in taste: "By exercising and metabolizing the birds for more days the food - whether organic or not - the meat is conditioned, which can be more or less tender or more or less fat, "says Robles.
But its color and taste do not affect our health. Both JM Mulet and Beatriz Robles say they are totally safe, provided they are purchased officially. Neither the way of life nor what the chicken ingests entail dangers for our organism: a recent investigation of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on the residues of medicines in this type of birds , in which 64,501 specimens were analyzed, concluded that only 48 of them - 0.07% - exceeded the permitted limits. And it is not clear if they were white, yellow or orange.
