Almost 50 per cent of Irish people are eating "significantly more" chicken in the wake of the BSE crisis. However, a worrying number of people do not know how to either store or cook the meat safely, a survey has found.
The study, carried out by the Smurfit Graduate School of Business, found 70 per cent saw chicken as a healthier option than beef, 65 per cent thought it healthier than lamb and 72 per cent healthier than pork.
Some 59 per cent of the 1,000 adults interviewed across 10 counties thought that chicken was the most versatile food in their fridge.
"And 64 per cent eat chicken as often as two to three times a week and 26 per cent once a week. Incredibly, 6.1 per cent interviewed across the country eat chicken on a daily basis."
Some 28 per cent of people said they would order chicken in restaurants above all other options. However, although chicken is becoming more popular almost half of those interviewed did not know the correct fridge temperature in which to keep chicken.
"Only 56 per cent of those asked knew the correct temperature to be between 0 and 5 degrees, with the other 44 per cent being as far out as plus or minus 10 degrees in their estimation," said the report.
It also found over half of the interviewees did not know how long it took to cook a medium chicken (1 hour and 40 minutes), "with a concerning 15 per cent believing cooking time to be between 30 minutes and 1 hour". That meant 15 per cent of chicken consumers in Ireland were eating the meat not fully cooked.
Food free of antibiotics and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were found to be important to consumers, with 41.5 per cent regarding antibiotic-free chicken as crucial and 66 per cent answering that they were concerned that they eat only GMO-free chicken.
The research, which was commissioned by the largest poultry producer in the State, Manor Farm Chickens, states that over half of all chicken consumed in the State is imported from such countries as Thailand, Hungary and Britain.
Some 70 per cent of those surveyed described themselves as "shocked or somewhat distressed" to learn this, the report says, with 78 per cent adding that they were "entirely unaware" of this.
Some 76 per cent of Irish people consider the country of origin of chicken to be an important consideration when purchasing chicken.
