Chicken myths busted (and an exclusive competition)

Chicken is certainly one of the world’s favourite and cheapest sources of protein. But more often than not, chicken gets a bad wrap for being filled with hormones, inorganic, mutant and so on. But these are mostly myths that people believe, and ultimately discourages people from eating chicken – the most versatile protein around.
Especially being a mom, we want what is best for our children, we want them to grow up big and strong and healthy without having to worry about the food they eat being unwholesome.
I sometimes overhear moms in coffee shops or at the stores saying to their children, no you can’t eat that it’s not good for you. What’s alarming about that is the fact that sometimes it’s to do with chicken.
I think the problem is that a lot of people are misguided or misinformed about various foods especially chicken. Astral is a leading South African poultry producer with brands like Festive , Goldi and County Fair which are fresh, frozen and crumbed chicken. They have approached me about this very topic and wanted to address some common misconceptions in the hope to help moms to continue to buy nutritious food and make good food choices for their family.
“We hope that by debunking some of the myths around chicken that this will make for a highly informed consumer public who knows what they are buying and what they are consuming. It will also hopefully encourage our public to buy local and support our local industry,” says Chris Schutte, CEO of Astral.
Schutte goes on to set straight the more common poultry fictions around:
1. Do chickens grow so fast because they are injected with growth hormones?
No, definitely not!  No chickens produced by any of Astral’s poultry operations are injected, fed or in any way whatsoever subjected to hormones. In order to obtain the desired growth and weight targets, a perfect combination of superior genetics, scientific nutrition and best farming practices are ethically applied. Be assured, eating our chicken products is perfectly safe for you!
2. Are all chickens injected with water before being sold?
No, not entirely true! Our fresh chicken, never frozen, is 100% natural. In fact, excess moisture is removed from fresh chicken through an air chilling process before being packed. However, we do flavour enhance IQF frozen portions (Individually Quick Frozen) with a water based brine, to improve meat tenderness and succulence by means of a scientifically applied injection method.
3. Are chickens restricted from movement by being kept in small wire cages?
Not true at all! In Astral, our chickens are raised in large poultry sheds designed to keep them as comfortable as possible. The disinfected floors are bedded with wood shavings, sunflower husks or wheat straw which allows them to scratch and move around as they please. Our chickens also have unrestricted access to light, clean water and nutritious feed 24 hours a day.
4. Are chickens reared on a diet of maize only?
No, only approximately half of the ration is maize! Maize, the main energy source in a chicken’s diet, comprises approximately 50% of the feed ration. In addition, specially formulated protein ingredients, together with key vitamins and minerals, are added to create the perfect balanced diet and is fed to our chickens in the form of easily digested crumbles or pellets.
5. Do antibiotics administered to chickens remain in the meat and are they dangerous to our health?
No, not entirely true! Antibiotics are administered to our chickens when necessary through feed intake and under the strict guidance of a registered veterinary practitioner. Any incidental antibiotic residues are well within the legislated maximum residual levels (MRL). It is standard practice to withdraw antibiotics from feed according to the manufacturers’ guidelines. This is done at least five days prior to slaughter to ensure no residues remain in the meat. Astral additionally tests the livers and muscles of slaughtered chickens through an independent laboratory for traces of antibiotic residues.
Astral is also running a fabulous competition for this week only:
• Send in your best chicken recipe for braai day (the recipe involving one of their brands such as Festive, Goldi or County Fair, stands the best chance of winning)
• The best recipe received by 17:00 on Friday 23 September will win a chicken hamper for them and their family courtesy of Astral
About Astral

Recipes can be posted as comments below or emailed to info@muslimmums.co.za

Astral is a leading South African integrated poultry producer. Key activities consist of animal feed pre-mixes, manufacturing of animal feeds, broiler genetics, production and sale of day-old chicks and hatching eggs, integrated breeder and broiler production operations, abattoirs and the sale and distribution of various key poultry brands.

EDITOR’S NOTE: ASTRAL FOOD PRODUCTS IN SOUTH AFRICA ARE CERTIFIED HALAAL BY THE MUSLIM JUDICIAL COUNCIL (MJC)

Sensory food aversions

If your child is a picky eater, you are not alone. According to several national studies, 24 percent of parents are concerned that their child is a picky eater. Doctors and researchers have found that many picky eaters have sensory food aversions (SFA) that cause them to eat only certain types of food. SFA is the most common feeding disorder seen in the Feeding Disorders Program at Children’s National Medical Center.

SENSORY FOOD AVERSIONS
Children with SFA consistently refuse to eat certain foods because of taste, texture, smell, and/or appearance. This is different from children who refuse to eat a particular food one day, but eat it the next.
Food aversions are common and vary in severity – some children refuse only a few specific foods and others refuse entire food groups, such as vegetables, fruits or meats.
While SFA can affect people of all ages, it becomes evident when young children are introduced to baby and table food.

SUPER TASTERS
The sensitivity to taste, texture or the smell of foods runs in families. Just as peoples’ vision can vary, so can the ability to taste. Studies have found that in general, people fall into three groups: non-tasters, tasters and super tasters. Super tasters have the largest number of taste buds on their tongues; therefore, foods have a much stronger taste, making many foods unappealing for them and often causing SFA.

SIGNS OF SFA
Children with SFA have reactions to certain foods that can be as mild as grimacing or as severe as gagging, spitting out the food or even vomiting. After experiencing the initial reaction, children with SFA usually refuse to continue eating that particular food and can become very distressed if forced to do so.
In fact, after a bad experience, some children tend to generalize and refuse foods that look and/or smell like the aversive food. For example, children with an aversion to peas may generalize the dislike to include all green vegetables.
Many children with SFA also are reluctant to try new foods for fear of having another episode, such as gagging or vomiting. Instead, they may eat a limited number of foods that they know are safe and will not cause a reaction.
Some children are so sensitive that they will refuse to eat any foods that touch other foods on their plates, while others eat only foods of specific brand names or from a specific restaurant. For example, some children with SFA will eat only chicken nuggets if they come from a specific fast-food chain.

EFFECTS OF SFA
If a child with SFA refuses to eat foods from an entire food group, such as vegetables or meats, his or her diet may lack vitamins, minerals and/or proteins that are important for a child’s health. In addition, if children reject foods that require significant chewing, such as meats or hard vegetables, they may fall behind in oral motor development because of the lack of experience with chewing. Delayed motor development can lead to difficulty with articulation.
There also may be long-lasting implications of SFA. It can cause older children to avoid social situations, such as birthday parties, sleepovers or summer camp, that require them to eat in front of others because they are embarrassed they aren’t able to eat the same foods as their peers.

TIPS FOR PARENTS
• If your child has gagged or vomited while eating a certain food:
o Do not offer that food again.
o Continue eating the food and other foods your child may not like so that he or she can see you eating and enjoying these foods. Young children want to do what their parents are doing. However, you should not try to coax your child into eating these foods. The harder you try, the harder he or she will resist.
o Give your child foods he or she can tolerate, while still incorporating all food groups.
• If your child grimaces after eating a certain food, offer your child the food later, but do not force the issue or your child will likely become anxious.
• Children with SFA will eat foods they prefer. If your child resists eating broccoli, offer another green vegetable, such as green beans.

Remember, these tips are for children who consistently refuse to eat certain foods. Children with SFA appear anxious or fearful of the foods they dislike. This is different from children who refuse to eat a particular food one day but eat it the next day as a way to exercise control over a parent.

WHEN TO ASK FOR HELP
Parents should consult their paediatrician if their child refuses to eat foods from an entire food group, such as fruits or vegetables, or if the child refuses to eat such a large number of different types of food that parents are worried he or she is not receiving enough nutrients.

Source: www.littlecooksclub.co.za

Healthy Eating With Kids 2

A while ago I posted Healthy Eating With Kids and then realised that my children’s diets, healthy eating, learning to cook well and growing my own food or finding fresh (from relatives gardens, farm shops and markets) are all growing into real passions for me. I think all of these aspects of food are closely linked.

I am finding more and more mother’s complaining that their children are fussy eaters, do not eat what they are given or constantly pester for junk food. A lot of the time these children come to my house and actually eat rather well. It’s not an issue, no-one is pleading with them, they are just doing what the other children are doing. Sometimes I can be a little facetious about this, refusing to give them coke even when their parents allow them to have some to stop them whinging – it just infuriates me when parents allow themselves to be bullied by their children.

Something else that is yielding good results is going back to nature. The children love the idea of growing food in the garden, picking it to eat or to use for cooking. I always tell them, “you helped me make dinner by bringing me peas” or “I’ll tell Dad you helped me make the sauce” when they bring in the mint. I can’t wait for the weather to turn warmer so that we can start planting again. When they are involved in the process of bringing the food from the earth to the table, they become enthused about it. This process also includes the cooking. I am loathe to let the kids loose anywhere near knives or the cooker, but they can still bash the ginger in the mortar and pestle, stir the mixture in the bowl, or shell the peas.

We also like to talk about our food. The other day I bought some French Golden Delicious apples. These are my mum’s favourites and were very common in shops here until a few years ago when they seemed to disappear. I discussed this with Little Man who loves fruit and he was intrigued. This is not to say that we should become obsessed about food or greedy for it, Islam says:

Al-Miqdaam ibn Maadiy-Karib narrated: I heard the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa salam) saying: “No human ever filled a vessel worse than the stomach. Sufficient for any son of Adam are some morsels to keep his back straight. But if it must be, then one third for his food, one third for his drink and one third for his breath.” [Ahmad, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasaa’i, Ibn Majah – Hadith sahih]

However, the current state of affairs where we cannot cook properly, are eating poor quality, low nutrition food and making ourselves ill contrasts strongly with our elders, both in Britain and in Pakistan, who grew their own food, had hearty, wholesome, simple diets and were clearly slimmer, stronger and healthier than us. We have to consider which legacy we want to pass on to our own children.

I recently came across a New York Times feature on wellness for children. More than the article, I found the comments from other readers very useful, one example that stood out was:

“As I read this, I was taken back to my childhood. I often cooked with my grandmother, who I lived with for many years. I don’t remember ever being told to leave the kitchen. In fact, I often was put in charge of making at least one thing and setting the table. As I grew older, I made dinner at least one night a week. It was considered a treat in my family to cook for everyone.

I also don’t remember being allowed to be picky about food. Food was put on the table and you ate. It wasn’t that my grandmother demanded you eat. As Tara points out, demanding even that one bite may get you into trouble. It was simply that this is what we were going to eat so we ate. The only time we picked what we wanted to eat was one Sunday morning a month–we could eat a cereal that we’d picked at the supermarket on Saturday.

But in general, if we didn’t like something (liver for example), we could explain why and that was it. If we were still hungry, we could have whatever fruits or veggies were left.

I don’t have children yet, but my best guidance will be remembering how my grandmother brought me into the kitchen, taught me how to make good food and to enjoy the process of making–not just eating–food. She would have shaken her head over the fact that we even need this kind of advice. But I’m happy that the column reminded me of what my grandmother seemed to know intuitively.”

Republished with kind permission from Umm Salihah

http://www.happymuslimah.com/2010/02/healthy-eating-with-kids-2.html