Why is chicken fat white?

Answer 1

The yellow pigmentation in the skin of chickens is derived from xanthophyll, which naturally occurs in yellow corn. Chickens fed a high level of corn and corn gluten meal will have a naturally yellow colored skin. Chickens fed grains such as wheat, oats or barley that do not contain xanthophyll will not have yellow skin. High corn diet is usually the reason for the yellow fat color.

Actually the grain based diet gives the white fat. The yellow fat come from a grass based diet. If you like free range eggs you will recognize the deep colour of the yolk in a layer that gets grass vs the pale of the grain fed layer in the store. This is from the cartonoid in the grass based diet. (like the orange in the carrots) It produces the yellow fat as well. We raise our own poultry and i love to see the rich yellow fat when the birds have bee getting plenty of grass.

Answer 2

Not all chicken fat is white. It depends on the feed the meat birds are fed prior to slaughter. In America, good fresh chicken in a store is recognized by its yellow fat. producers feed the birds a high fat corn meal a few weeks prior to processing. In Canada, consumers prefer white fat and are therefore fed a diet high in soy bean. This results in a white fat under the skin of the bird.