Why are most commercial breed of animal white.

[farthing]

We had this conversation at our food store yesterday. If you think about it a large precentage of popular commercial breeds are white- why.
White pigs,
broiler chickens,
NZW rabbits,
Turkeys.....
I suggested it may be easier to see any problems on a white animal, but are they really selectively bred to be white, I'm sure white isn't the most dominant gene colour.:?

[angieh]

A very interesting question..... need a geneticist to answer I expect.

[dandysmom]

Interesting question! It has to be selective breeding, as in nature there are very few all white animals, except those whose coloring is an asset in the environment: polar bears, ermines in Winter coat, etc. You don't see white cats, dogs, rabbits in their ancestral forms. But the why is what puzzles me too...what's the advantage of having white stock? Anyone have any ideas?