What's in a McNugget?
Since the release of the infamous "Pink Slime" video, people have continued to ask, "What's really in a chicken nugget?"
Although McDonald's switched to white breast meat starting in the mid-2000s, there are still many additives in the McNugget due to the need to preserve it from factory to table. McNuggets are 57 percent fat, mostly from trans-fat-ridden hydrogenated soybean oil and are not made with Pink Slime.
Tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, is also found among the long list of McNugget ingredients. TBHQ is a petroleum product that is used in several non-edible substances, such as varnishes, perfumes, lacquers and cosmetics. It is used to retain the shape of the McNugget, and while harmless in low doses, the chemical is considered toxic when consumed in large amounts. It has also been linked to hyperactivity in children, arthritis and DNA damaged. Although it has been entirely banned in the United Kingdom, it remains present in McNuggets around the U.S.
Dimethylpolysiloxane is another ingredient found in McNuggets that has been phased out across the pond but remains present in McNuggets states-side. This silicon-based foaming agent is found in shampoos, heat-resistant tiles and breast implants. It's used to prevent foaming on the surface of the McNuggets while cooking. This ingredient isn't known to have any toxicity when consumed.
The U.S. has transformed into a poultry-based nation. Over a million and a half people are both directly and indirectly employed in the production or sale of chicken.
In 2017, over 41 billion pounds of ready-to-cook chicken was produced and over 1.2 billion bushels of corn was used to feed the 9 billion broiler chickens in the U.S. Over $95 billion in consumer expenditures for chicken was recorded.
