THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

If you are seeking something more than the standard antibiotic bloated chicken in your local supermarket, you might want to understand the various labels the sellers use and what they really mean. You might be in for a real Inigo Montoya moment.

Beyond the label "organic," chicken packages that purport to be more natural than ordinary chicken could carry any of the following terms: natural, antibiotic-free, farm-raised, fresh, cage-free, hormone-free and free-range. The U.S. Department of Agriculture imposed some rules on the use of these terms.

However, the range of possibilities is broad, and the various distinctions can be "bastardized," says Ariane Daguin, founder of D'Artagnan, a high-end meat company.

It's one thing to have "free-range" chickens living in a crowded pen with a small, open gate, and quite another to have a spacious environment with considerable outdoor access for the birds, she says.

That's because some of the label terms are of little value to consumers.

* "Natural" means there are no artificial ingredients or preservatives. That claim can be made for most chicken sold at grocery stores.

* "Hormone-free" has even less meaning since hormones are not legally allowed in poultry. Same goes for "farm-raised," since just about every chicken sold is raised on a farm.

* "Antibiotic-free" has significance to those who are concerned about consuming an animal treated with antibiotics. An organic chicken cannot be treated with antibiotics.

* "Fresh" means the chicken has never been cooled below 26 degrees Fahrenheit (-3 degrees Celsius).

* "Free-range" is taken by many to mean that the chickens roam free in a pasture, but legally it just means they have access to the outside.

While some consumers say organic chicken is healthier and tastes better, that's not necessarily true.

The taste issue, in particular, can be hard to discern. It's easy to distinguish organic milk from non-organic milk. Grass-fed beef stands out in particular among connoisseurs. Chicken, however, is harder to be snooty about.

"You have to have one outrageous palate to distinguish between an organic bird and another bird," says Dallas-based chef Otto Borsich.

"Antibiotic-free" is probably the most important thing to look for. While it may be too late, any diminution of the flood of antibiotics in our food and environment is good. As for the rest, it's your choice.