The Chicken McNugget – why you can trust McDonalds

McDonalds have been in some controversy about what really goes into their Chicken McNugget, there have been allegations from consumers that pink slime is being used and all kinds of chicken parts like beaks and feet are used as well.

McDonalds have always been claiming that for the chicken part or the McNugget they have always been using chicken breasts, of course with other ingredients as well since a McNugget consists of more than just chicken. Other ingredients are wheat, water, spices, salt and some more, you can read a full list of ingredients at McDonalds website.

But since McDonalds are making an effort to be more transparent they have hired former Mythbusters host Grant Imahara and letting him go on a tour in one of McDonalds plants where Chicken McNuggets are made.

You’ll get to see most of the process, it starts with the deboning of the chicken, goes on to the grinding of the meat and when it is combined with all the other ingredients. Once the meat batter is complete the Chicken McNuggets are shaped and battered and then dropped in oil for frying. Once this is done the McNuggets are flash frozen and shipped to McDonalds all over the US and eaten.

Now there are some problems with videos like this, first industrial food being processed rarely look very appetizing. When tons of chicken gets grinded into a meat batter you won’t feel that hungry but that is the reality of any food like this. The process would look just an unappetizing if it was organic hamburgers with nothing but meat and salt being made. Especially if you’ve never witnessed big production lines like the ones for the Chicken McNugget.

Second thing that is a problem for McDonalds is that their food have such a bad reputation that it simply won’t matter what they are saying since the hardcore group of sceptics remain so suspicious of McDonalds that  they just won’t believe anything McDonald’s are saying.

Now there are plenty of concerns about fast food that is to be taken seriously, we eat way too much of that stuff, it usually contains way too much fat, salt, sugar and not enough greens and fiber. But this goes for most fast food chains. And this has very little to do with what goes into a Chicken McNugget. Maybe it would be better to not gulp down a gallon of coke that goes with those McNuggets? Or just eat less fast food in general?

For the sceptics I must also state that I am in no way sceptical about the process of the McNuggets, McDonald’s would never dare to cheat on something like this. Also for any food company that is selling their food in stores or in restaurant chains go through loads of rules and regulation to ensure safety and traceability for all their foods. And most of these rules are not regulated by the government but is carried out by independent companies who visits food production facilities and audit everything they do. These demands are usually way tougher to maintain than anything set up by any government. This goes for the retail industry as well. In Europe you more or less can’t deliver food to any big food chain without getting a good audit from an independent company.

So I must applaud the effort from McDonalds to be more transparent in what they do, its a step in the right direction, whether this helps McDonalds stop their declining sales is another story.

To see more of the food production from McDonalds there are a few more videos available at their Youtube channel.