Abstract
A study was done to compare the general quality, microbiology and shelf-life of fresh and frozen chicken. Two brands of frozen Grade A, one brand of frozen Grade C and one brand of fresh chicken were compared for yield, texture, general acceptability, psychrotrophic bacteria contents after one, two, and three cycles of thawing and freezing, and shelf-life once it was kept at 7.2° C (45° F) after thawing. Unfrozen fresh chicken samples were anlyzed for psychrotrophic bacteria and shelf-life as a control . Results indicated that there are no significant differences (P > 0.05) in yield, texture and general acceptability among the fresh and frozen chickens studied. The size of the psychrotrophic bacteria population is generally not affected by up to three cycles of thawing and freezing. With the exception of the frozen Grade C chickens analyzed, shelf-life was not generally affected by up to three cycles of thawing and freezing as compared with samples that were unfrozen and frozen and thawed only once.