| Two of the authors of the report on chicken’s place in the Aust... Two of the authors of the report on chicken’s place in the Australian diet are Dr Karen Charlton (left) and Dr Yasmine Probst from the Smart Foods Centre |
Chicken’s place in Australian diet gets the thumbs up
21 May 2008 | Bernie Goldie
Chicken has received a positive tick for its place in the Australian diet, according to the latest study from the University of Wollongong’s Smart Foods Centre.
In a report launched in Australian Family Physician Journal, the authors provided an up-to-date comparison that chicken is not only one of the leanest proteins and has a favourable ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids but also delivers more essential vitamins and minerals than generally recognised.
The report’s authors from the Smart Foods Centre were Accredited Practising Dietitians Dr Karen Charlton, Dr Yasmine Probst and Professor Linda Tapsell along with Dr Patrick Blackall from the Animal Research Institute with Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.
Entitled “Food, Health and Nutrition: Where does Chicken Fit?, the researchers’ work was supported by a project grant funded by the Australian Chicken Meat Foundation.
The project was managed by UOW’s Smart Foods Centre, a partner of the National Centre for Excellence in Functional Foods. The centre is a joint venture between UOW, CSIRO Human Nutrition, Food Science Australia and the Department of Primary Industries, Victoria.
Since GPs are an important source of information on nutrition for many patients, their report aims to broaden the understanding of where chicken fits in the Australian diet, how it is produced in this country and how it contributes to the health of Australians.
According to the Executive Director of the Australian Chicken Meat Federation, Dr Andreas Dubs, the report provides strong evidence for GPs, other health care professionals and consumers across the board to recommend chicken as part of a healthy diet.
“The link between diet and health is important, given the prevalence of diet related disease, including obesity, and consumers need to be able to discriminate between foods based on their nutritional contribution to their daily diet,” Dr Dubs said.
“Australian chicken is recognised as a low fat, lean protein source and an important part of a well balanced diet. The fact that it is nutrient rich in vitamins and minerals and contains all nine essential amino acids is not as well recognised by health care professionals or consumers and this report aims to redress this.”
Compared to other stir-fried meats, lean chicken breast has the lowest total fat content and one of the lowest levels of saturated fatty acid. It is a low cholesterol meat choice that contains essential fatty acids and is a source of vitamin E, vitamin A equivalents and thiamin, and delivers significant amounts of niacin equivalents, an important nutrient for energy metabolism.
The authors say that the important thing for consumers to remember was that lean chicken contains more than 50 per cent healthy fats.
Anyone seeking further information about this report should contact Dr Karen Charlton at the Smart Foods Centre on (02) 4221 5125 or Dr Yasmine Probst (also at the Smart Foods Centre) on (02) 4221 5302.
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