Birds of a Feather

Meeting the criteria for healthier options and the all important provenance of birds continues to come under the spotlight when it comes to table birds. John Porter reports.

Poultry, and chicken in particular, has a habit of finding itself at the heart of debate over food production and health.

From reports of analysis of the levels of antibiotics found in commercially reared flocks, to the sight of chef Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall crying on TV at the plight of intensively reared chickens, poultry has become a symbol for consumer concern about the methods used to produce the food.

While suppliers have responded strongly to these concerns, the challenge for caterers is more complex. Consumers have some choice in whether they decide to serve a £2 intensively reared broiler or a £7 free range organic thoroughbred come Sunday lunchtime. In the world of tightly controlled catering budgets, the options tend to be more limited.

The official nutritional guidelines, embodied in the 'eatwell plate' created by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), advise that we should eat 'some' meat as a source of protein and suggests turkey and chicken, without the skin, are good choices because these are lower in fat.

However, the FSA also makes the point that these benefits are easily lost. For example, fried chicken breast in breadcrumbs contains nearly six times as much fat as chicken breast grilled without the skin – 12.7g fat per 100g and 2.1g saturated fat compared with 2.2g fat per 100g and 0.6g saturated fat.

The School Food Trust (SFT) also recognises the role of poultry in a balanced diet. Its sample menus compliant with the nutrient based standards for schools include dishes such as turkey breast, chicken ragout and mild chicken curry for primary pupils, while for secondary schools calypso chicken with pasta spirals, chicken ratatouille and turkey tikka and salad sandwiches are among the recommendations.

The versatility of poultry, reflected in the SFT recipes, is undoubtedly an advantage to caterers when it comes to serving a range of nutritious meals across daily and weekly menu cycles within tight budgets.

The UK prison population was just below 85,000 in April, up 2.6% on the same period last year. Just £2.12 is allocated to feed each inmate three meals per day, with the added expectation that inmates will be served balanced and nutritional food – those FSA guidelines recommend adult males eat 55.5g of protein a day and adult females 45g a day.

Low priced lean meat such as chicken is consequently a staple part of inmates' diets.

Rectory Foods has supplied UK prisons for the past seven years and supplies up to 300 tons of chicken and turkey to them each year.

Breaded, southern fried and battered products together with chicken kievs are the most common products supplied. These items are also quick and easy to cook in large batches, making them ideal to feed large groups of people.

Prisoners' special dietary requirements also need to be met with price and nutrition in mind.

Halal meat, required for Muslim inmates, is offered to prisons by Rectory Foods and can also be provided to other caterers.

Managing director Nick Bowyer comments: "Chicken is widely used by the prison service as it is extremely versatile and can be added to many different dishes, such as casseroles and curries that can easily be produced en masse.

"We are able to meet the demand for cost effective, balanced meals. We are always looking for new ways to ensure we deliver well priced new options for prisons, so that they can continue to feed inmates in line with cost and nutritional regulations."

As well as nutritional concerns, the origin of poultry products is also increasingly of concern. Sam Douglas, meat and poultry product marketing manager for Brakes, says: "In the cost sector there does seem to be growing interest in provenance and traceability, with schools particularly keen to have this information.

"We've found it's important to offer customers products that meet those different requirements. We have a broad range of British poultry which meets Red Tractor, RSPCA Freedom Foods and Assured Chicken Production standards. Our salesforce is increasingly being asked by people in the cost sector for products which meet these standards."

Where low cost and high quality are important, Brakes also offers lower cost imported poultry products from fully traceable sources. "Schools are really keen on traceability; they want to know that suppliers can guarantee where their products have come from," says Douglas.

Provenance is also high up the agenda for Bernard Matthews Foodservice, which champions turkey as a healthier, versatile meat. It offers British turkey reared on its own farms in East Anglia.

General manager Duncan Marsh says British turkey answers the need for cost sector caterers to offer nutritious cooked meat options that are also cost effective and innovative. "Turkey has excellent flavour and unbeknown to many, is a perfect protein, containing less saturated fat than chicken.

"To put it into context, skinless turkey breast contains 34g of protein and 0.7g saturated fat per 100g compared with 30g protein and 1g of saturated fat per 100g in skinless chicken breast."

Research, conducted for Bernard Matthews by analyst Cambridge Direction at the start of this year, found that caterers recognise turkey is a healthier and low fat meat, and with that no wastage as leftover meat is good for sandwiches or curries the next day.

"The main challenge is that turkey has long been associated with Christmas, which has done it a disservice when it comes to its all year round popularity," says Marsh.

"There is a real opportunity to help cost sector caterers, who might not have clear recipe associations and experience with turkey, perhaps not knowing how to optimise its flavour and texture in preparation."

Cooked sliced turkey breast in stock is part of the Big Green Tick sub-range from Bernard Matthews, under development in direct partnership with UK cost sector caterers, and delivering British turkey products that tick the boxes for healthier menus.

With 18-22 slices per 1kg pack, each turkey breast slice weighs 38g, with a 100g serving containing just 1.5g fat and less than 200mg of salt. "We are also actively reducing salt, fat and saturated fat contents in our products striving to achieve FSA 2012 targets, but we will only do this where it doesn't compromise on product quality and taste," says Marsh.

"More than 90% of Bernard Matthews products have already achieved the original 2010 FSA target ahead of the deadline at the end of this year."

Love Joes, one of the top chicken product specialists in foodservice, uses a substantial proportion of Red Tractor chicken in its products. Toni Koumi, operations manager for Love Joes, says: "With more pressure than ever on caterers through Government nutrition guidelines, we have products that allow our customers to offer healthy yet delicious products."

For children's menus, the company says it offers a range of healthier, fresh and frozen lines, some with a specially developed non-fried coating, which means that children can enjoy the food they love within the Government's nutrition guidelines.

The Wrappin Joes concept from Love Joes includes 18 chicken marinade flavours, and allows customers to put exactly what they want into their wrap.

The customer selects their choice of marinated chicken, salad and sauce, with the bespoke filling served in a tortilla wrap.

Atlantic Foods has recently expanded its Harvest range to include three butterfly chicken products – plain, Cajun and garlic and herb. With 40% of meat dishes eaten in the UK being chicken, it says, the new range enables chefs to offer something a little different and updates menus.

The appeal of poultry is summed up by John Pickett, managing director of Crown Foods. "More than 30 years ago, when we founded Crown Foods, poultry was the only form of protein that we offered.

"Although our Simply range has grown to include meat, fish and vegetarian products throughout the past decade, poultry has stood the test of time and remains to be extremely popular with our customers.

"The versatility that naturally roasted and fully cooked chicken breast offers is extreme, allowing caterers to have ease of serving, the guarantee of total food safety, use in adults and children's meals, and has the ability to mix with hundreds of recipe components."

Words John Porter