It's one of the most popular meats in the world - we munch our way through 2.2 MILLION of the stuff every day.

We devour chicken in so many different ways - we love to roast and bake it and there's nothing quite like a chicken nugget.

But demand for chicken is having a telling effect on agriculture and the quality of birds that we eat.

Compassion in World Farming has released a video about 'white striping' in chicken.

These strands of fat appear due to the conditions the birds are kept in. They develop in factory farms - reports the Mirror Online.

White striping

Traditionally, chicken breasts are plump, tender, and have a small amount of fat running along the sides – but not strains cutting through the fillets.

The striping is down to the way chickens are raised in intensive farming. Farmers have to produce the birds on a mass scale, so they do everything to make their animals grow bigger, and more quickly.

And chickens are fattier as a result.

A study last year by the University of Arkansas and Texas A&M concluded that “the severity of white striping has increased in recent years." Scientists found white striping present in 96 per cent of the birds they tested (285 in total).

This white striping doesn't just mean more fat, but it also "negatively impacts meat quality," according to researchers. Apparently the meat isn't as tender and doesn't absorb marinades as well. Fat usually means flavour, sure. But there's also a common perception that factory farmed meat doesn't taste as nice. So it's sort of voided.

It's worth mentioning that the study above was in the US – where farming is not usually as high quality as the UK and Europe . But it happens in the UK too.

Still, if we keep eating as much chicken as we do, we need factory farming. And white striping doesn't completely ruin the meat. The chicken is still full of protein and will fill you up.


Chicken burger with pulled pork
Chicken burger with pulled pork

Jaclyn London, R.D., Nutrition Director at the Good Housekeeping Institute, said: “Chicken - so long as it's not breaded and deep-fried - is a great source of lean protein (that also happens to be rich in B-vitamins, iron and vitamin B12)."

Also, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council told BuzzFeed that white striping only affects a “small percentage of chicken meat” and “does not create any health or food safety concerns for people and the welfare of the chicken itself is not negatively impacted.”

So look out for white striping and avoid it if you can – but don't throw your meat away if it's there.