Introduction to the Symposium

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Abstract The demand by consumers for color in poultry carcasses remains strong. Around the turn of the Twentieth Century, this concern about color was more important than it is today. In yellow-skinned birds, which made up a major part of the meat birds then, skin color was a true indication of health. Most consumers wanted a yellow bird because this told them that the bird was reasonably free of coccidiosis. Although the consumer may not have known what coccidiosis was, she knew that birds with poor color were not as healthy as ones with good color. The consumer also knew that when the bird laid eggs with a bright yellow yolk, the hen had been on a high corn diet or had been able to get outside, and being outside was “good.” The consumer probably did not know that large amounts of vitamin A could cause egg yolks to be pale. . . .