Everyday Systems

Ever wonder what’s actually in a McDonald’s Chicken McNugget? Turns out, the “chicken†alone contains seven ingredients. And that’s before you even get to the breading. Sadly, many of our favorite foods (especially fast foods) weren’t merely crafted in kitchens, they were also designed and perfected in labs. We uncovered the ugly truth when doing research for Eat This, Not That! Restaurant Survival Guide. What we found wasn’t pretty—or appetizing. Before you mindlessly chew your way through another value meal, take these mini-mysteries (conveniently solved below) into account. Sometimes the truth is tough to swallow.

What’s in a Chicken McNugget?

You’d think that a breaded lump of chicken would be pretty simple. Mostly, it would contain bread and chicken. But the McNugget and its peers at other fast-food restaurants are much more complicated creatures than that. The “meat†in the McNugget alone contains seven ingredients, some of which are made up of yet more ingredients. (Nope, it’s not just chicken. It’s also such nonchicken-related stuff as water, wheat starch, dextrose, safflower oil, and sodium phosphates.) The “meat†also contains something called “autolyzed yeast extract.†Then add another 20 ingredients that make up the breading, and you have the industrial chemical—we mean, fast-food meal—called the McNugget. Still, McDonald’s is practically all-natural compared to Wendy’s Chicken Nuggets, with 30 ingredients, and Burger King Chicken Fries, with a whopping 35 ingredients.

Whoa. Thanks for reminding me why I avoid fast food like the plague!

ik... yea, thanks for the reminder.

yummmm.

Just kidding. Seriously though, I used to go crazy for McNuggets when I was a kid. Double cheeseburgers and fries too.

Who knew? Glad I am vegetarian, but I'm sure that even th BK Veggie has got some terrible stuff in it! I always thought that KFC didn't use real chickens, but cloned ones bred without heads.

Yeah, pretty much afer I saw Food, Inc. and read the book, plus I read Fast Food Nation, I gave that stuff up (not that I was eating a ton of it before but still).

Now when we travel and need to stop for food it's either the grilled chicked sandwich or a grocery store (they usually have salad bar or prepared entree's that can't be as bad as fast food.)

oliviamanda wrote:Who knew? Glad I am vegetarian, but I'm sure that even th BK Veggie has got some terrible stuff in it! I always thought that KFC didn't use real chickens, but cloned ones bred without heads.

Yeah, despite the halo around prepared vegetarian foods like veggie burgers, most of them are still pretty processed and have some less-than-desirable ingredients. I shudder at all the fake meat I ate in high school with the smug thought that I was so much better off than people eating the real stuff. Oops.

marygrace wrote:

oliviamanda wrote:Who knew? Glad I am vegetarian, but I'm sure that even th BK Veggie has got some terrible stuff in it! I always thought that KFC didn't use real chickens, but cloned ones bred without heads.

Yeah, despite the halo around prepared vegetarian foods like veggie burgers, most of them are still pretty processed and have some less-than-desirable ingredients. I shudder at all the fake meat I ate in high school with the smug thought that I was so much better off than people eating the real stuff. Oops.

I used to eat some of the faux meat now and again -- because it was "healthier." Then I read the label on one and decided it was far healthier to eat the real thing than the faux version. Haven't turned back.

I rarely eat faux meat, but sometimes I have a black bean burger or something made up of actual beans, vegetables and grains. The faux meat may also be bad for you, but it doesn't have the saturated animal fat. Of course most people want the real thing...but it looks like chicken mcnuggets really aren't the "real" thing. I think there is a lot more to shudder about pertaining to the meat and fast food industry than eating faux meat from time to time.

I have to admit, I do have very fond memories of Chicken McNuggets from when I was a kid... but I'm trying (probably in vain) to preserve my kids from forming a similar attachment.

Less because of the fake ingredients than because of the mechanized cruelty of the factory farms. Of course, from that perspective, there's really no difference between McNuggets and what you buy fresh at the supermarket. But there's a big difference if you can get your meat from a place like this:

http://www.chestnutfarms.org

For those of you who are lazy like I am, a meat share is also way easier than a regular vegetable farm share. There's just a once a month pickup. (I also don't feel sorry for vegetables. )

Reinhard

I'm no longer sure that saturated fat is bad for us. It's one of those things that has been consumed forever by other people without problems. Reducing our consumption of it hasn't seemed to help much.

The leading killer of humans in the United States and globally is heart disease, so to say that saturated fat has been consumed forever without problems... I don't agree. Maybe there is no direct link between saturated fat and heart disease, but there are studies that show saturated fats lead to higher cholesterol. According to the Mayo Clinic, high levels of cholesterol in your blood can increase the risk of formation of plaques and atherosclerosis. Also, a diet that's high in fat, salt and cholesterol can contribute to the development of heart disease.

oliviamanda wrote:The leading killer of humans in the United States and globally is heart disease, so to say that saturated fat has been consumed forever without problems... I don't agree. Maybe there is no direct link between saturated fat and heart disease, but there are studies that show saturated fats lead to higher cholesterol. According to the Mayo Clinic, high levels of cholesterol in your blood can increase the risk of formation of plaques and atherosclerosis. Also, a diet that's high in fat, salt and cholesterol can contribute to the development of heart disease.

Notice the wording "can cause" and "can be related to". We're not as sure as all that of a lot of problems with diet. Rather, there's a correlation, but we're not entirely sure if it's a causation.

Ferinstance, I can eat damn near Pritikin levels of low fat and it won't do a thing for my serum cholesterol unless I am also losing fat. Now if I take off adipose tissue in substantial amounts, I can eat full-blown Atkins with lots of butter, bacon and steak, and my cholesterol will still go down.

You can't plot a curve from one point, of course, but it is entirely possible that at least for some people, body fat percentages have a lot more to do with serum cholesterol levels than diet. What mucks this up is that when people go on weight loss diets these days, they usually do cut fat from the diet in various forms.

oliviamanda wrote:I rarely eat faux meat, but sometimes I have a black bean burger or something made up of actual beans, vegetables and grains. The faux meat may also be bad for you, but it doesn't have the saturated animal fat. Of course most people want the real thing...but it looks like chicken mcnuggets really aren't the "real" thing. I think there is a lot more to shudder about pertaining to the meat and fast food industry than eating faux meat from time to time.

IMHO, there's nothing wrong with veggie burgers per se--as long as they're homemade and made with actual vegetables, beans, grains, etc. instead of isolated soy protein and modified starches and whatever else. Homemade veggie burgers are actually quite delicious.

oliviamanda wrote:The leading killer of humans in the United States and globally is heart disease, so to say that saturated fat has been consumed forever without problems... I don't agree. Maybe there is no direct link between saturated fat and heart disease, but there are studies that show saturated fats lead to higher cholesterol. According to the Mayo Clinic, high levels of cholesterol in your blood can increase the risk of formation of plaques and atherosclerosis. Also, a diet that's high in fat, salt and cholesterol can contribute to the development of heart disease.

I have to go with wosnes on this one. People have been eating saturated fat for thousands of years and have been fine. Look at how much saturated fat the French eat, for instance. From what I've read over the last few years, I'm starting to gather that high cholesterol and heart disease has just as much (if not more) to do with the consumption of processed foods, trans fats, plus a severely sedentary lifestyle.

I'm not discounting anything that you are saying, but the number one killer in France is also heart disease.