The chicken-based menu dishes sold at McDonald’s are among the company’s most well-known offerings. The well-known chain of quick-service restaurants offers a wide variety of chicken-based foods, including Chicken Nuggets, McChicken, Deluxe Crispy Chicken Sandwiches, Spicy Deluxe Crispy Chicken, Crispy Chicken Sandwiches, and many more.
All of these chicken meals start with a chicken breast as their foundation, but each variant has a unique combination of ingredients and other components. In the following paragraphs, we will talk about the origin of the chicken that is used in various chicken products and determine whether they are legitimate.
Does McDonald’s Use Real Chicken in 2022?
There is no chicken at McDonald’s that isn’t created entirely out of chicken. The Chicken McNuggets that McDonald’s sells are produced entirely of white flesh and do not include any artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives of any kind. They are served with a marinade that helps to preserve both their taste and their unique forms for as long as possible.
This assertion was made on the Frequently Asked Questions website for McDonald’s Chicken & Sandwiches. This knowledge is both enlightening and comforting; thank you for sharing it.
However, research conducted by third-party organizations and people reveals that the quantity of so-called “genuine chicken” utilized in McDonald’s chicken products is really rather little. According to the findings of these studies, the percentage of actual chicken found in many of these items is less than fifty percent.
Check to check whether a well-known quick-service restaurant utilizes actual chicken:
- Chick-Fil-A
- Taco Bell
- McDonald’s
- Chipotle
- Wendy’s
What Does McDonald’s Put in Their Chicken?
Although McDonald’s utilizes actual chicken in its chicken dishes, several of its chicken dishes also include fillers made from chicken byproducts. Only a small proportion of the company’s goods really include genuine chicken; the rest of the components, which are often referred to as “fillers,” make up the bulk of the product.
When it comes to the components that go into the fillers used for its chicken products, McDonald’s isn’t exactly coy about what goes into them. For instance, the popular Chicken Nuggets sold at McDonald’s include fillers or components such as Vegetable Oil, which may be any of the following: Canola Oil, Soybean Oil, Corn Oil, or Hydrogenated Soybean Oil.
In addition to it, there is the Enriched Flour component, which is comprised of Niacin, Riboflavin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Bleached Wheat Flour, and Folic Acid. Yeast Extract, Natural Flavors, Lemon Juice Solids, and Spices are some of the additional components that are used for filler.
These fillers may also include other chemical components in their composition. Calcium Lactate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate, and a great many more are some of the examples of these types of compounds. The vast majority of these chemical substances are found elsewhere in the recipe as individual components.
The chicken at McDonald’s has a quite high proportion of these fillers compared to the rest of the product. It was not possible for us to get the official percentage from McDonald’s; nevertheless, independent researches discovered that the proportion of the genuine chicken is less than fifty percent, which indicates that the fillers make up a percentage that is more than fifty percent.
Does McDonald’s Raise Their Chickens?
McDonald’s does not grow its own chickens, despite the fact that it uses the meat from millions of birds in the production of its many goods. The quick-service restaurant chain also does not own its own chicken farm.
According to the frequently asked questions website of the firm, the chicken used by the quick-service restaurant chain comes from distributors located in the states of Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and Arkansas.
A firm known as Keystone Foods provides a significant portion of the chicken that is used in the production of its chicken-based products. The business is a significant player in the food processing industry, and it supplies beef, fish, and poultry to a variety of quick-service restaurants all over the globe, including McDonald’s.
Every year, the Keystone Foods business in the United States provides the global fast-food behemoth with over 300 million pounds of chicken.
Does McDonald’s Have Plant-Based Chicken?
There are some plant-based options available at McDonald’s, however these options do not contain any chicken products. Recently, McDonald’s introduced a new line of items that they are calling McVeggies or McPlants for short. These alternatives, which are derived from plants as their names suggest, recently succeeded in meeting McDonald’s Australia’s quality standards. The fact that these goods have been so successful makes it abundantly evident that the brand is moving in the direction of satisfying the growing need for items derived from plants.
On the other hand, it will be essential to point out that none of these plant-based goods are included on the menu for the chicken item. The McPlant and McVeggie products are centered on the idea of developing a substitute for beef-based menu items like burgers and other beef-based foods.
Corn, peas, onions, and carrots are among of the plant-based ingredients that are used in the Australian version of the McVeggie product. After that, the burger is placed on a bun that has cheese, mayonnaise, lettuce, and pickles on it and served. The McPlant product line features meat-like alternatives made from plants, such as burger patties, a chicken-like alternative, and other foods.
Several years ago, the PLT Burger was also an option that was tried out at several of the Canadian locations. This kind of burger had a vegetable component in the form of lettuce and tomato. However, McDonald’s has already ceased testing of the PLT burgers, and there are currently no plans to resume testing at a later date.
On the other hand, plant-based options are not yet available in the United States, despite the fact that an official from McDonald’s has stated to a news outlet that plans are currently being developed and that plant-based options will become available in the United States as soon as there is a demand for them from customers.
What Does McDonald’s Do to Their Chicken?
According to the official statement that can be found on the frequently asked questions website for the brand, McDonald’s takes great care in selecting the parts of the bird that are used in its chicken products.
The chicken breast, tenderloins, and ribs are all used in this dish as part of the chicken. After cutting the white chicken flesh from these portions, it is then combined with marinade, which not only imparts taste but also helps the pieces maintain their characteristic shapes.
Following the formation of the mixture, the chicken nuggets are molded into the four distinct forms that are so famous. In order to maintain the taste, these shapes are first coated in batter, more specifically, a light tempura batter, before being partly fried and then frozen.
You ought to be aware that each of these procedures occurs by the time we reach the processing stage.
These chicken nuggets are deep-fried to perfection once they arrive at a McDonald’s restaurant.
Is the Chicken at Mcdonald’s Highly Processed?
Before putting any chicken product, including chicken nuggets and other chicken products, on the market, McDonald’s prepares its chicken in the same manner that other fast food businesses do.
However, it is difficult to assert that these birds have undergone a great deal of processing. The statement released by the company indicates that the hens it sells come from vendors who deliver them frozen.
The only thing the brand does to them is defrost them and then prepare them in the manner described in the prior section.
Is It Safe to Eat McDonald’s Chicken?
One of the things that are sold at McDonald’s, which is a fast-food restaurant, are chicken-based foods. It has been determined that eating fast food poses a threat to human health, which may have significant and even fatal repercussions.
Despite this, McDonald’s has taken steps to convince customers that their food is risk-free and devoid of any potential hazards. Although there is a possibility that this is true, it is not a good idea to make chicken meals from McDonald’s the primary component of your diet on a daily basis.
Does McDonald’s Use Fake Chicken?
There is no imitation chicken in any of the items that McDonald’s sells. The information that is presented on the frequently asked questions website of the brand makes this quite evident. It uses only genuine chicken in all of its chicken-based products.