Feast in the MIddle East

Hello Friends!

I have a departure from the normal recipe blog today, to take you on a shopping excursion with me as I rate rotisserie chickens! While these chickens are so convenient and come in handy for a quick meal, no two are created equal. Since these chickens are eaten so often, it’s worth taking the time to choose the ones with the best ingredients. Once you figure out the one you like, you can then go on autopilot, purchasing the same kind of chicken every time for your meal prepping needs.

Let’s start with the mother of all rotisserie chickens- Costco. To their credit, Costco has kept the price low at around five bucks for decades. This is a huge gift right now at a time when prices are literally rising week to week! However, upon close inspection, the chickens are preserved in sodium phosphate. According to a study in the National Library of Medicine, high levels of phosphate may elevate mortality rates for the general public, as well as for those with kidney disease and cardiovascular disease.

Researchers also linked high phosphate levels to accelerated aging and vascular damage. The researchers recommended that people eat foods with naturally occurring phosphates, rather than those with added sodium phosphate. So while this ingredient is probably fine eaten in moderation, it is not ideal to eat regularly, especially if you have kidney problems. Costco also has some added soy and carageenan, which can cause digestive upset to those sensitive to these ingredients.

Safeway has two lines of rotisserie chickens, the Signature Cafe Brand and the Open Nature Brand. With just a dollar difference, they have vastly different ingredients. The Signature Cafe line packs 5 kinds of sugar, along with sodium phosphate. The Open Nature one is pretty benign for a non-organic chicken. Their only additives are guar and zanthan gums, which are pretty safe, but can cause inflammation for some people.

In my new video, I share the top two rottiserie chickens I buy because they are organic, and only have chicken and salt as the main ingredients. You can check out my picks on my favorite poultry products by clicking on the video below! Please let me know in the comments if you would like to see more food review shopping trips!