Chicken breast contains protein and zinc. When purchasing chicken, it’s best to purchase one without the skin which reduces the amount of fat intake. In addition, it’s best the chicken is organic and air chilled or if possible the chicken contains a small percentage of retained water.

An organic chicken ensures the chicken is vegetarian fed and isn’t fed any additives, pesticides and such. It also means the chicken has access to the outdoors.

A package that states the chicken is “natural” doesn’t really mean much. The USDA doesn’t strictly enforce “natural” chickens as they do “organic” chickens. In order for a chicken to be considered organic, there are multiple qualifications that must be met. So best bet is to purchase an organic chicken.

https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/organic-standards

https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Organic%20Livestock%20Requirements.pdf

Air chilled ensures the chicken is “air chilled” instead of water chilled. When the chicken is air chilled, you are only paying for the weight of the chicken. However, if the chicken is water chilled, you are also paying for the weight of the water that is retained in the chicken. Therefore, the best option is air chilled, but if that’s not possible, make sure the water retention is a small percentage.

Note: This information should be written or labeled on the packaging, whether that’s in fine or bold print.

Hormone free is just printed for marketing and selling purposes since all chicken in the United States are required to be hormone free.