Zaycon Fresh Chicken

[ncsmom]

Has anyone purchased Boneless, skinless chicken breast from Zaycon Fresh? The company says that it should be gluten free because there are no added ingredients. I'd rather know for certain. Thanks

[Ankur]

I don't see any mention of it being gluten free on their page - Open Original Shared Link

[cyclinglady]

But, the website says that is is 100% natural with no additives.  So, salt is not even added!  I would say this is safe.  Chicken is naturally gluten free.    Meat, poultry, eggs all fall under the USDA (US DEPT OF AGRICULTURE) umbrella and not the FDA (which require labels and allergy identification and gluten-free is 20 parts per million), but I have rarely found wheat in USDA products.   Just in a turkey that contained a sealed packet of gravey in the packaging and some sausages, (more processed items).  

[ncsmom]

Thank you for the reply. I have read somewhere on this site (years ago) that raw chicken packaged in chicken broth rather than water can be suspect, because some chicken broths contain gluten. Even though they said "no additives," I'm a bit weary of the "chicken juices"; hoping it is just the natural occurring juices from the chicken itself. I may just break down and give them a try since it is so cheap...though you must purchase 40 lbs. at a time. Thanks.

[cyclinglady]

You could contact the company and ask for piece of mind. 

[ncsmom]

The Company could not give me a definitive answer. All they could say was that there are no additives. So, I take that to mean that not even chicken broth is added. 

[ncsmom]

Zaycon Fresh referred me to Wayne Farms, which is where their chicken comes from (at least in my area). Wayne Farms stated that some of their chicken is processed in facilities that also processes wheat. I was told that in NC, none of the facilities process wheat, but you will need to check depending on where you are located in the country. They stated that they do not test for gluten, even in the facilities that also process wheat.

 

[cyclinglady]

I bet that Wayne's Chicken is just offering the standard legal CYA statement.  They would not want to test their end product because it costs too much.  They are a huge chicken processing company and follow USDA guide lines for health and safety.   Yes, they are probably making chicken nuggets on a separate line.  But the chicken they are cutting up probably is located at another section of the factory (probably in another building) and the risk for gluten contamination is .....extremely tiny (nill).    Purchase whole chickens if you think the lady cutting up the chicken (wearing a gown, hat and gloves) might contaminate your chicken.  Consider buying direct from a chicken farm.  My friends always pick their live chicken at the city market (Los Angeles).    Or you can raise them yourself and feed them gluten-free grain.  Slaughtering is a little time consuming....?

I buy Zacky Farms (CALIF) and Kirkland (Costco) chicken. Both process other chicken products that contain wheat I am sure.  Hubby and I have been at this gluten-free for  14 years and have not been glutened by plain chicken.  Heck, I even purchase Costco's rotisserie chicken every single week (and that is totally "processed").  That prepared chicken comes from the supplier and is handled by one guy even though the kitchen is shared by the folks assembling the bake-yourself pizza, chicken fettuccini, deli items that Costco smartly makes using the leftover chicken.  He has a separate sink and never helps the deli  (I can not imagine cooking chicken all day long but that is a different topic.) 

Buy from your local grocery store.  Most will give you case discounts so the deal you think you might be getting from Zaycon might not be a deal after all.  

At some point, you need to trust your food source.  ?