You might want to think twice the next time you order the 20 piece chicken nugget from your favorite fast food chain. In fact, you should probably question how much “chicken” is actually in your “nugget.”
Researchers analyzed the contents of chicken nuggets from two “major fast-food chains” and found food contains about 40 and 50 percent chicken meat. The rest the fast food treat contains fat, skin, connective tissue, blood vessels, nerves and bone fragments, according to a news release.
“I was floored,” said Dr. Richard deShazo, UMMC distinguished professor of medicine, pediatrics and immunology. “I had read what other reports have said is in them and I didn’t believe it. I was astonished actually seeing it under the microscope.”
The study findings were published in American Journal of Medicine.
“What has happened is that some companies have chosen to use an artificial mixture of chicken parts rather than low-fat chicken white meat, batter it up and fry it, and still call it chicken. It is really a chicken by-product high in calories, salt, sugar and fat that is a very unhealthy choice. Even worse, it tastes great and kids love it and it is marketed to them,” deShazo added.
Scientists did not name what fast food chains’ chicken nuggets used in the study. Researchers say chicken nuggets are fine to consume occasionally, as long as you’re regularly making healthy eating choices.
“We’ve got to learn how to distribute our calories across a diet that includes lean protein, fresh fruit and green vegetables,” deShazo said. “We’re literally eating ourselves to death with obesity. We have to learn to eat a balanced diet where it’s not all carbohydrates and fat.”
In their paper, the physicians wrote the percentage of meat constituting the two chicken nuggets in question.
“The nugget from the first restaurant was composed of approximately 50 percent skeletal muscle, with the remainder composed primarily of fat, with some blood vessels and nerve present. Higher-power views showed generous quantities of epithelium and associated supportive tissue including squamous epithelium from skin or viscera,” they wrote.
“The nugget from the second restaurant was composed of approximately 40 percent skeletal muscle. Here, too, there were generous quantities of fat and other tissue, including connective tissue and bone spicules.”
Researchers stressed that these fast food chains are not misleading their customers.
“We just don't take the time to understand basic nutritional facts - this is a health literacy issue - and to push back when our kids and grandkids, who do not know the risks of being obese, beg for unhealthy foods,” researchers said.
