I occasionally look back at my childhood pictures and think “what in the heck was I wearing?” Anyone else do the same? I had lots of bell bottoms, big plaid pants, platform shoes, and hippie tops. It was the norm, until it went out of style. I should have realized that what goes around comes around with fashion. Here we are in 2022 and guess what’s in my closet? You guessed it — lots of bell bottoms, big plaid pants, and hippie tops.

I have noticed the same trend of what goes around comes around with food topics, also. My favorite one when I was much younger was earthworms in hot dogs. We all know that it was really erythorbates which are important to drive the nitrite reaction to prevent Clostridium botulinum and make the hot dogs a nice pink color which consumers like. But at our young age, we thought it really was earthworms in hotdogs.I thought that topic was behind us … but guess what, here it comes again. This time, it is about a “worm” in the breast meat.

We are all familiar with white striping and woody breast by now. These conditions have been around for a while. A couple of years ago it was spaghetti meat. Now we are reading about the “long and thin worm” in the breast.

For clarification, this “worm” is not really a worm at all; it is a blood vessel. It is being described as a tubular structure visible on the surface of the breast fillet. Consumers are describing it as a “long, thin worm” that is visible in packages at the grocery stores. Obviously, this is causing some consumer complaints and potential economic impacts.

Researchers in Spain reported this condition as a novel structure in the breast muscle. But is it really new? I don’t think so. It has been observed for a while now. But the consumer complaints about it are new, and therefore it is technically a “new” issue.

I have deboned a lot of chickens in my life, and I have usually seen this blood vessel or vascular attachment on the skin which links or attaches to the top of the breast muscle. Normally, this vessel is thin and surrounded by fat and provides blood supply to the exterior of the muscle. It is usually removed when the breast skin is removed. However, with this new condition, the arterial wall is thicker and sturdier creating more arterial strength. This arterial strength keeps the blood vessel from being removed when the breast muscle is skinned and therefore stays on top of the breast muscle. The increased muscular wall of the artery also makes it more visible to consumers. If you don’t know what you’re looking at, it kind of looks like a “long, thin worm”. So what comes around, goes around, and just like with erythorbates, it is not a worm at all; it is a blood vessel.

What is causing this condition? Scientists are researching the answer. For us as consumers, we can continue to go about our daily lives eating chicken. It is not a worm, it is a blood vessel. It is not a food safety or even a quality issue. Blood vessels are a part of eating meat. We can continue to buy and cook and eat chicken breast without a concern related to eating a “long, thin worm.”

I was hoping we were done with the earthworm in hot dogs discussions from my childhood. But, here we are, talking about worms again. I am hoping this blog clarifies what consumers may be seeing, and I hope it provides some scientific basis for ensuring chicken breast is just fine to eat. If you have any questions, I am here to help answer them. So, please ask!

… and the worm discussion is back

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