Does Anyone Know If Hooly Farms Fresh Chicken Is Safe?

[lucky28]

My local grocery (food lion) has recently started carrying Holly Farms fresh chicken. Well I have stocked up my freezer with quite a bit of it and just noticed 90% of it "contains up to12% of natural chicken broth". holly farms is owned by Tyson, I searched both their websites and couldn't find any info. I,m planning on making some calls tomorrow to investigate but thought I'd see if anyone else had any information before I did that.

[sa1937]

I also shop at Food Lion and will look forward to hearing what you find out. I'm going to take a guess that the 12% chicken broth is supposed to make the chicken more juicy much like a brine would and is probably gluten-free or wouldn't it have to be declared on the label if it wasn't? Of course, injecting it with chicken broth is a whole lot cheaper than the chicken itself, which would help the bottom line.

FWIW, the Food Lion "My Essentials" store brand of both chicken and beef broths are now labeled gluten-free.

[lovegrov]

I've never, ever found a fresh or raw chicken that isn't gluten-free and I've eaten Holly Farms numerous times. I know it's checked out gluten-free in the past.

Tyson says this about their chicken, although it doesn't specifically list Holly Farms. I'd eat it.

INGREDIENTS:

Boneless, skinless chicken breast strips w/ rib meat Contains Up to 15% natural chicken broth. ALL NATURAL CHICKEN BROTH INGREDIENTS: Chicken broth, salt, natural flavorings.

CONTAINS NO ALLERGENS

Richard

[kareng]

I try not to buy the injected meat. But not because of gluten. They inject salt water and the sodium content goes way up. One brand I saw was 5 times as much sodium as plain chicken.

[Jestgar]

Not to mention you're paying, what, $3/pound for water?

[lucky28]

Fyi-

Sylvia- I called them today and they told me no gluten! yay

Jestgar- I am CHEAP! lol, I buy in bulk when it's on sale that's why I was so concerned, I had stocked up my freezer quite a bit when it was on sale last and hadn't noticed the small print about the broth or I probably wouldn't have bought it, I woulda found some other meat on sale!

Kar- I haven't given the sodium much thought but that's true, I wonder if ppl on a low sodium diet for HBP are reading the fine print!

Love-Even though Holly Farms is owned by Tyson their labeling didn't include the "No Allergens" statement- But good to know-I'll pick some up next time it's on sale!

Thanks everyone for the quick replies-Even though it's safe it still reminds me that I have to read all labeling closely! I knew that some frozen turkeys and chickens weren't safe but I wouldn't have thought I'd have to worry about fresh meats.

It's one more thing to make that $20 organic free range chicken at the local farm look a lot more appealing

[lucky28]

Oh, thanks Sylvia for the info on the broth!

[sa1937]

Oh, thanks Sylvia for the info on the broth!

You're welcome! I think that's a change from when they went from their Food Lion brand to "My Essentials".

Also, because they now promote Holly Farms with better prices, watch for mark-downs on Perdue chicken if you're lucky to be there when they've marked some down as obviously a lot of people gravitate towards Holly Farms specials.

[Pauliewog]

About a year ago I read a book called Eating Animals. The author goes into the ways meats are produced. In the book he talks about chicken and the water content. As I remember it, he said that chicken in the US is gutted and then has to be kept cool. The US gov. allows the chickens to be kept in a cold tank of water. During that time the chicken absorbs that water. The author went on to say how much gunk, bacteria, etc. is in that water. Apparently the Canadian gov. does not allow this water tank and the chickens are hung in coolers. However, the US chicken industry has resisted this, because as someone stated, water bulks up the chicken so you pay more for less meat. The gov. does require them to label the water percentage. Personally, I was thoroughly disgusted by the process after reading the book. I am not trying to gross anyone out or turn you off from chicken. However, I don't believe that chicken is being injected with anything. From what I read, it is soaking it up in these cooling tanks. I recommend the book if you want to read more.

[Skylark]

You can find air chilled chicken at health food stores. I think it has a better taste and texture.

[pricklypear1971]

If you're looking for organics, Costco has the best price I've found. At least $1+ less per pound than other places.

I do think they are put in the water tanks though, not air chilled.

They have organic ground beef, too.

I can't get buffalo meat there, though. I can get it at Safeway and Fry's, though.

[Jestgar]

Find a farmer's market that sells eggs and find out if the seller produces his/her own chickens. Talk to the seller about what they do with the older hens that don't lay (stewing hens), or extra roosters (usually young). They won't be as big and meaty as storebought (unless the egg seller also raises meat chickens) but they taste a whole lot better.

[lucky28]

ok, I have to eat crow now and I hope that no one else has to. I called tyson yesterday to ask about their chicken(holly farms)was gluten-free, given an answer that it was. and I also emailed them the same question so on the phone everything was ok but I got an email today saying that they couldn't verify if the chicken was gluten-free without a upc number so i will have to retract the statement I got via phone. sorry. until I can get some sleep then call again please don't take my earlier post as golden. I have been on call at work and worked some crazy hrs the last few days so in the mean time I will have to consider Holly farms unsafe until further notice

[lovegrov]

Lucky, it's pretty much 99.99999999 percent that the chicken is gluten-free. If you don't see wheat listed, it's going to be gluten-free.

richard

[sa1937]

I agree with Richard...a lot of companies won't guarantee anything. I'd buy Holly Farms and not worry about it. We can really make ourselves crazy with this CYA stuff.

[lovegrov]

I ate some Holly Farms Saturday.

richard