- ‘Spaghetti meat’ is the result of fast-growing chickens bred in the meat industry
- Their muscles cannot keep up with growth, causing the fibers to disintegrate
- READ MORE: Goat in Minnesota tests positive for H5N1 bird flu
Social media was outraged after learning what ‘spaghetti’ chicken is – after a mum’s post went viral on X.
Alesia Cooper from Texas was washing chicken breasts as part of her children’s dinner when the raw meat began to fall apart and flip in her hands. stringy and limp.
Mrs Cooper, who had bought from discount supermarket Aldi, wrote: ‘I think it’s fake meat.’
But fact-checkers on
Alesia Cooper from Texas posted a photo of chicken she bought at Aldi that looked like stringy spaghetti
Mrs. Cooper was washing the chicken breasts as part of the children’s dinner
It is said that spaghetti meat is the result of breeding to make large-breasted chickens grow faster.
When some chickens are grown to an unnaturally plump size over a short period of time, their muscle tissues often do not receive enough oxygen, which can cause the fibers to separate and become stringy.
The meat is still safe to eat, although it may have a tougher texture than normal.
Chickens raised for meat, also called broiler chickens, grow much faster than they used to, according to the National Chicken Council — about twice as fast as 50 years ago.
In 2000, the average bird went to market when it was 47 days old and weighed 5.03 pounds. In 2022, the average chicken still goes to market on day 47, but now weighs 6.56 pounds.
And in 1925, chickens took 112 days to reach a market weight of 2.5 pounds.
This is the result of genetic selection to breed birds that develop larger chest muscles more quickly, resulting in more meat per bird and therefore more profit.
“Spaghetti meat” is what researchers call chicken breast fillets, which can be pulled apart by hand into something resembling stringy spaghetti noodles.
They first emerged in 2015 and were found in about four to five percent of breast meat samples in 2019. Wall Street Journal reported.
“There is evidence that these abnormalities are associated with fast-growing birds,” Dr. Massimiliano Petracci, professor of agricultural and food sciences at the University of Bologna in Italy, told the WSJ.
Meat scientists believe that the rapid growth rate of commercially raised chickens may cause the pectoral muscle tissue to outgrow the oxygen supply of the chicken’s growing circulatory system, causing the muscle fibers to break down and disintegrate.
Companies like Wendy’s and Whole Foods are returning to slower-raised chickens because buyers at Whole Foods believe that chickens that are raised more slowly and have a better quality of life will taste better.
“I thought about posting this, but since I had to see it, you guys should too,” Ms. Cooper said.
‘A few weeks ago I was cooking dinner for my kids and cleaning my meat like I normally do, and when I went back to cooking it turned into this… I haven’t made chicken off the bone since. ‘
In addition to ‘spaghetti meat’, there is also ‘woody brisket’ – when the chicken is tough and leathery.
The changed density and texture of the meat may occur for the same reasons as spaghetti meat, experts say.