How to choose fresh chicken: a shopper's guide

Choosing fresh chicken starts one step before cooking: the moment you buy it. With your eyes, your nose and a quick touch you can tell a fresh product from one that has started to lose quality. Here are four simple signs to rely on in any store, then how to keep it fresh until it reaches your kitchen.

1. Colour

Fresh chicken is a uniform light pink, with white or slightly yellow fat. Avoid pieces with grey patches, dull areas or dark blood pooling — these hint at age or poor handling.

2. Texture

Press the meat gently; fresh chicken is firm and springs straight back, and its surface is moist but not slimy. A sticky or tacky feel, even after rinsing, is one of the clearest signs that spoilage and surface bacteria have begun.

3. Smell

Fresh chicken smells almost neutral, or of nothing at all. Any sour or sharp ammonia-like smell means it is no longer good, however acceptable the colour looks. Here your nose is more honest than your eyes.

4. Packaging and pack date

Choose securely sealed packs with no tears or bulging, and avoid excess liquid pooling at the bottom — a sign the product has been sitting for a while. Read the pack date, not just the expiry, and prefer the most recently packed.

From store to fridge

Pick up chicken last, keep it away from ready-to-eat foods, and get it into the fridge quickly — especially in summer heat. Keep chilled fresh chicken at 0–4°C and use it within one to two days of purchase, or freeze it if it won't be used in time.