Back in the day, when my kids were younger, I would serve them chickens nuggets about twice a week. Why? Because they liked them, and I was feeding them chicken. How bad could that be… right? Then I came across this article a while ago, and thought I would share in case you still have chicken nugget lovin’ wee ones.
After reading the article, I am having delayed remorse. Like bad. A professor of pediatrics and medicine, Richard deShazo, along with some colleagues, did a small test to find out exactly what is in commercially available chicken nuggets. The study ended up being published in the American Journal of Medicine. Basically, it broke down that about 50% of the meat was actually chicken, the rest was “fat, blood vessels, nerve, connective tissue and ground bone…” Barf!
To conduct the study, the team went to 2 different national fast food chains and ordered chicken nuggets {I know, this is not a huge sample, but it is still food for thought–or not food at all, as it turns out. Ha!}. Then, they put the nuggets under a microscope and broke them down.
The article suggests that, while the sample was super small, the goal is to make consumers aware so that they check labels and become informed about what they put in their and their kids’ mouths. Um, ya. Probably a good idea. The article does not say which fast food chains they sampled, but it does say, that according to McDonald’s, KFC, and Chick-Fil-A’s websites, they all tout that they use “premium white meat,” but it doesn’t mention the other ingredients {i.e. in the breading, etc.}.
What do you think, will you still feed the kids chicken nuggets when you hit the drive-thru?
~Mavis
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Meg says
Great info! We’re lucky that we happened upon this information pre-kids, so we’ve already phased out all fast food. We’ve decided that it’s worth it to consider our food choices and the integrity of the life of the animal (health wise and conscientiously). So, I’ll make the rare nugget with pasture-raised, humanely chicken and feel better in the long run. 🙂 Otherwise, he just eats what we do, thank goodness!
erin s says
My kids never would eat McDonald’s or other greasy fast food….my 4 yr old daughter always chooses jimmy johns instead. Only homemade nuggets at this house.
Holly says
Chick-Fil-A is real chicken breast… And you can tell when you eat them. They are fried in peanut oil … And when we eat out on the run, that is where we try to go . My kids would never touch the nuggets anywhere else … And you can tell they are made from “parts”…. I have begun making my own nuggets at home in peanut oil and flash freezing them to pull out of the freezer when they want some chicken nuggets and we are short on time …
Kristen | The Frugal Girl says
I was going to say just that! Chik-Fil-A nuggets have the texture of a chunk of chicken…very different than frozen nugges or McDonald’s nuggets.
We don’t eat fast food very often, but when we do, we tend to choose Chik-Fil-A.
Holly says
And this Spring we will be raising our own organic happy chickens to make nuggets with…
Taylor says
I can vouch for McDonalds nuggets, my family has worked for corporate mcdonalds since the dawn of time (not really but it’s been forever) and they purchase their chicken nuggets directly from Tyson (the chicken brand sold in grocery stores). And for those parents who are wary of feeding their children Mickey d’s always be aware that there are healthier choices on the menu, and corporate is doing a lot to change the growing obesity epidemic in children.
Holly says
Lol… I used to work for McDonald’s and know that their burgers are also 100% beef… Despite the campaign against them. I actually like Big Mac’s… Even with all my healthy eating… But the texture of McD ‘a nuggets and Chick- Fil-A’s is definitely different…
Jenny says
I love McDonalds too! Their hamburger are great!
I love Arbys also, but I do confess to one time being stupid enough to open the bun,
look at the meat and wonder, “What is this stuff really ?”
But before I thought about it too much, I took it home,
popped it in the microwave for a couple of minutes,
and when the bell rang, ate it without looking at it again.
Yummy !
AisLynn says
And have you been to a Tyson processing plant? I have and I won’t eat their chicken!
Mavis says
Nope. And I don’t think I ever want to!
T.L. Bodine says
Just because they’re partnered with Tyson doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of “extra” bits in the nuggets. In fact I’d wager it makes it more likely — Tyson has to get rid of all those ground-up bits of chicken pieces somehow, where better than in a nugget?
Of course, the separate question is: Is the gross-out factor of eating non-traditional ingredients really the problem? or is the problem all of the additives, fillers, preservatives and other chemicals put back in to make it taste more like real food? I’d wager the latter. I’ll eat all manner of strange, offputting foods (offal, tripe, organ meat, feet, ears, tails) but I’m not as keen on the chemicals.
Ashley says
But I love chicken nuggets……….
After watching Super Size Me I couldn’t even THINK about chicken nuggets for a year without wanting to puke. I cook healthy stuff at home, and it’s very rare for us to eat fast food (like twice a year) so I don’t worry too much about what my kids eat when we do. I do love chicken nuggets though, mainly because they are an excellent shovel to get bbq sauce into my mouth, haha! Haven’t had McDonald’s nuggets in forever!
Krista S says
havent bought chicken nuggets in some kind, always make chicken strips at home for my kids, they like them better anyway
we dont eat fast food, the occasional pizza from a pizzaria but thats about it
Tammy says
When my daughter was really little we would sometimes get her the chicken nuggets. But 1) I read more about them and their ingredients and 2) she never really ate them with gusto so not buying them was no biggie. No more chicken nuggets – she probably hasn’t had chicken nuggets in well over a year, possibly two.
Terry K. says
Actually, Mavis, since I started reading your blog and thinking about eating better, I have been paying more attention to ingredients in stuff like this. About the time school started last fall my husband saw something about chicken nuggets on tv and “informed” me that our kids aren’t eating them anymore. Took the pressure off me, but I agreed with him. Yuk!
ChrisM says
I saw a documentary about how chicken nuggets were made years ago. Then my teens saw it in their health class. GROSS. We do not eat that stuff anymore. We try not to eat ANY fast food anymore (sometimes we do) but we’ve been trying to eat whole foods as much as possible. Food companies put too much weird stuff in our food.
Random Person Named Melissa says
The absolute best Chicken Nuggests isn’t sold at a drive through… it’s made by a small little meat market a few miles from my house. They make them with dark meat not chicken breast and they actually season the breading. It’s like compairing plain unseasoned baked chicken with Origional recipe KFC. That’s the diffrence between the two.
Cecily says
We don’t eat much fast food because of the high sodium levels, but that being said it doesn’t bother me that those things are in the nuggets. After all, if you’ve ever eaten whole chicken, even organic, free range, humanely treated chicken, there are blood vessels, connective tissue, fat, nerves and gristle in there. This is especially visible in the thighs and wings. I make chicken stock with bones that get brittle from hours of boiling and bits get into the stock. I don’t mind that either.
Holly says
I agree with you…I don’t mind those things. I make bone broths too…I just made some with (gasp) squirrels!,, Many ethnic foods have those things in them…and I feel better with all the “parts” being used. Nothing is wasted, right , Mavis? I just think people need to be informed about what they are eating. I do think McDonald’s nuggets are real meat, but it seems to be ground up or something…I never have liked them. But I think we have cheated ourselves by opting out of killing our own food…we forget that something had to die in order for us to eat meat and we tend to be very wasteful as a society…..and since we have started eating more wild game (and will shortly be transitioning to raising all of our own meat when we move to our farm next week), I am trying to find ways to use ALL the animal that can be used. Somehow it was noble to use all the “parts” when the Native Americans did it. Now it’s gross. I DO think that we SHOULD be concerned about how the animals are treated and what they are fed….but the Bible says “it’s not what goes into the mouth that defines the man, but what comes out of it.”…. So while I am trying to find new ways not to be wasteful and find new ways to eat more healthy foods….I am not going to belittle the person who wants to eat Taco Bell or Arby’s…..a steady diet of that is not good for you, but it doesn’t make you a bad person! 🙂
Holly says
Also, there is a lot of FALSE information out there about some of the fast food stuff…a documentary doesn’t necessarily mean that everything in it is true….we have to be discerning about EVERYTHING we read or watch….
Holly says
*defiles…. Not defines. Stupid auto correct! 🙂
Tina B says
Cecily, we are and feel the same way in our house. Not much fast food these days, but have no problems with what’s in chicken nuggets. I actually have an affinity for McDonald’s chicken nuggets and once in a rare while I’ll indulge myself with a box of them. I make my own chicken stock, and as my family called it while was growing up, “carcass soup,” which is chicken or turkey soup made using the bones of the bird after using the majority of the meat. It tastes so good. I
Leslie says
Oh, GAG! 😛
Amy says
I buy mostly organic, feed my kids very healthy (weirdly healthy, actually) about 99% of the time. If we go to McDonalds , which is very rare, I don’t sweat what they eat. Chicken nuggets…. Even a soda. I figure that if they are going out for a rare fast food outing, I’m not gonna sweat it. Now, making that an everyday thing – no way!! I believe you are what you eat.
suzanne hissung says
Agreed, you feed your family real food. It’s having a weekly treat not an everyday occurrence.
Holly says
I agree… We rarely eat it, but don’t stress when we do. There have been seasons in our lives when we have had to eat out more (family or friend with cancer and visiting hospitals daily, moving all the way across the country, moving across town making several trips, etc.) and we cannot afford to eat at more high end places , in which case we order salads or grilled chicken from fast food places…and such is life. The normal rhythm is eating VERY HEALTHY, so a little junk won’t kill us…and it keeps us in touch with reality … There are sometimes much bigger issues in life to deal with… Terminal illnesses and life threatening injuries…than what we are eating in the non normal seasons of life…
suzanne hissung says
For arguments sake, whats the difference between eating the meat and almost any other part of the animal? Sharks fin soup comes to mind. Sweet meats I think is brain, bone marrow or old fashioned sausage casings. If your going to eat it Isn’t it wasteful to toss everything else (pus and feces of course not)? Maybe there are serious health Issues I’m not aware of but I don’t think a once a week treat will have serious health issues(?). Obesity is more a matter of quantity vs. activity isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong I eat meat and I have had fast food maybe 200 times in my 50 years and enjoyed it. Maybe it’s a generational thing.
Cecily says
I agree Suzanne. If they were putting something in there that would pose a serious health risk from occasionally eating their food or if they were putting something in there that would violate someone’s religious beliefs and not informing them (I remember when McD’s was cooking their fries in beef fat and not revealing that fact) that would be different. This seems to be more of an “ick” factor thing.
Leslie says
Obesity is more complex than quantity. Lots of folks fighting obesity eat only small amounts. Obesity is also the inflammatory response to foods, tolerance to foods, and gut health, just to scratch the surface.
Elizabeth says
I make our nuggets-can’t stand the ones in the bags. I make our dipping sauces too. That being said, we will stop at McDonalds for a 20 piece (enough for te kids to share as I won’t buy meals) if we are traveling. I don’t mind the “extra bits” in nuggets I just like them to feel like chicken.
My issue is the “made with” so many products proclaim…made with breast meat…made with whole grains. It just means a little over half of it is made with that product. People don’t take the time to figure that part out and companies like it that way. It’s the false advertising that annoys me.
Bible Babe says
Umm….well…since we eat beef heart, liver, kidney, pig stomach, tripe, pigs feet, and several other ‘delicacies’…a chicken nugget doesn’t seem so bad….;)
Sno says
I saw this on Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution about 2 years ago………He showed the kids in a school exactly what they were made of, and to say they were repulsed is an understatement. They learned how to make a healthy version that they all loved..
Edwin Losiewicz says
I use a recipe from skinnytaste.com for Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets. Simple,easy and you add what spices you like.
Christie says
This is the kind of food that our taxpayer dollars buys to feed kids at school. Plus, corn dogs and french toast on a stick! I seriously think that those recipes for home made dog food would be healthier for our kids then school lunches.
Have you seen the pictures of ” mechanically separated chicken ” ???? Ewwwww.
With my own children, I don’t want to create food issues. I don’t buy typical fast food for them and I don’t buy junk food for home. Bit, if they eat it somewhere else ( friends house etc) I don’t worry. The problem is that too many Americans are eating this stuff every day, every meal and not eating “real food”.
Marnie Honeyman says
Sweet breads Suzanne H is not brains it is testicals or nuts!!