Just what is in that chicken nugget?

Just what is in that chicken nugget?

Stand-up comedians have long joked that some things, like the actual components of chicken nuggets, are better left mysterious.

Recently, Mississippi researchers found out why: two nuggets they examined consisted of 50 percent or less chicken muscle tissue, the breast or thigh meat that comes to mind when a customer thinks of "chicken."

The nuggets came from two national fast food chains in Jackson. The three researchers selected one nugget from each box, preserved, dissected and stained the nuggets, then looked at them under a microscope.

The first nugget was about half muscle, with the rest a mix of fat, blood vessels and nerves. Close inspection revealed cells that line the skin and internal organs of the bird, the authors write in the American Journal of Medicine.

The second nugget was only 40 percent muscle, and the remainder was fat, cartilage and pieces of bone.

"We all know white chicken meat to be one of the best sources of lean protein available and encourage our patients to eat it," lead author Dr. Richard D. deShazo of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, said.

"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," deShazo told Reuters Health.

"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."

The nuggets he examined would be okay to eat occasionally, but he worries that since they are cheap, convenient and taste good, kids eat them often. His own grandchildren "beg" for chicken nuggets all the time, and he compromises by making them at home by pan-frying chicken breasts with a small amount of oil, deShazo said.

"Chicken nuggets are an excellent source of protein, especially for kids who might be picky eaters," said Ashley Peterson, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs for the National Chicken Council (NCC), a non-profit trade group representing the U.S. chicken industry.

According to the NCC, its member producers and processors account for about 95 percent of the chicken produced in the U.S.

"This study evaluates only two chicken nugget samples out of the billions of chicken nuggets that are made every year," Peterson said. A sample size of two nuggets is simply too small to generalize to an entire category of food, she told Reuters Health.

Two nuggets is a small sample size, deShazo acknowledged, and some chains have begun to use primarily white meat in their nuggets - just not the particular restaurants he visited.

"Chicken nuggets tend to have an elevated fat content because they are breaded and fried. But it's no secret what is in a chicken nugget - most quick service restaurants have nutritional information posted in the store or on their website," Peterson said.

"And every package of chicken nuggets in the grocery store by law contains an ingredient list and a complete nutritional profile, including fat content," she said.

The brief chicken nugget exploration was not meant to be an exposé of the chicken industry or fast food generally, but to remind consumers that "not everything that tastes good is good for you," deShazo said.

He and his colleagues chose not to reveal which chain restaurants they visited.

Consumers aren't necessarily being misled, since much of the nutritional information they need is readily available, he said.

"We just don't take the time to understand basic nutritional facts."

US Shutdown

US shutdown: Defence staff told to return to work

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the decision was based on an interpretation of the Pay Our Military Act

Most of the 400,000 US defence department staff sent home amid the US government shutdown have been told to return to work next week.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the decision was based on an interpretation of the Pay Our Military Act.

A budget row between Republicans and Democrats has forced the closure of federal services for five days now.

But the sides have now voted to approve back-pay for the 800,000 federal workers sent home without salaries.

In a rare moment of bipartisan co-operation, the House of Representatives on Saturday approved by 407-0 a bill to pay the federal workers once the shutdown ends.

There remains no sign of any deal on the federal budget, however.

Republicans who control the House of Representatives have refused to approve the budget, saying they would only do so if President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law was delayed or stripped of funding.

Mr Obama and the Democrats have refused, noting the law was passed in 2010, subsequently approved by the Supreme Court, and was a central issue in the 2012 election which Mr Obama won.

'Undiminished'

The Pay Our Military Act was passed by Congress shortly before the shutdown.

He said lawyers had told him the Pay Our Military Act permitted employees "whose responsibilities contribute to the morale, well-being, capabilities and readiness of service members" to be exempted.Mr Hagel said earlier in the week he wanted to find a way to get his civilian staff back to work.

"I expect us to be able to significantly reduce - but not eliminate - civilian furloughs under this process," he said.

Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday warned that any prolonged shutdown could affect the US internationally.

But, speaking at a meeting of Asian leaders in Indonesia, he said any impact was "momentary" and Washington's commitment to the region was "undiminished".

President Obama cancelled his Asia visit because of the shutdown.

In his weekly radio address, Mr Obama urged the Republicans to "end this farce".

The next key deadline will be 17 October.

Unless Congress agrees to raise the $16.7 trillion (£10.4 trillion) statutory borrowing limit by then, the US could default on its debts for the first time in its history.

Mr Obama said: "For as reckless as a government shutdown is, an economic shutdown that comes with default would be dramatically worse."

Mr Obama has refused to negotiate with the Republicans until they pass a temporary bill to end the shutdown and raise the debt limit.

The leader of the Republicans in the House, Eric Cantor, said negotiations could end the deadlock, but that President Obama "seems to be unwilling to sit down and talk with us".

Mr Cantor said: "It doesn't make any sense if the president has an axe to grind with the opposing party, why he would want to put the American people in the middle of that?"

Who is affected?

'Brain' In KFC Chicken Meal

Student James Lally Finds Wrinkled Kidney 'Brain' In KFC Chicken Meal

A student got more than he bargained for when he bought a Wicked Variety Meal from fast food chain KFC and found a wrinkled kidney and "almost a complete spine".

James Lally, a student at Sussex University, bought a meal for himself and his girlfriend at the London Road restaurant in Brighton on Sunday. The 22-year-old's girlfriend made the gruesome discovery after having already eaten most of the chicken.

"I tend to stay away from their original recipe chicken for these kinda reasons," Lally told The Huffington Post UK. "Ironically, we got the 10 piece wicked variety bucket to share."

A picture of the wrinkled kidney, which resembled a brain, Lally found

"We'd eaten most of the chicken when we found a pretty intact spine complete with their secret blend of herbs and spices," Lally continued. "We joked about finding more, and then [my girlfriend] came across the kidney."

"I think she was just pretty relieved to have seen it before she ate it," the neuroscience student adds. "I hadn't eaten KFC in a year and definitely won't be eating it again."

Lally is not the first student to find foreign bodies in his KFC; in January Ibrahim Langoo found what he thought was a "wrinkled brain" in his gladiator meal box. The three-inch organ was later confirmed by KFC staff to have been a kidney.

Lally didn't complain to KFC staff immediately as "they would just come out with the same corporate crap they came out with last time", but he has since lodged a complaint.

"To be honest, vouchers for free KFC doesn't really appeal to me right now," Lally added.

HuffPost UK contacted the KFC press office who asked for Lally to send over a sample, but stomach-churning chicken has been thrown away. "Surprisingly enough it wasn't something we wanted reminding of," Lally says. "So it all got binned pretty sharpish."

A spokesperson for KFC said: "We're really sorry for Mr Lally's experience. We sell 200 million pieces of chicken every year and always try to ensure the highest standards in every restaurant. However because all our chicken on the bone is freshly prepared by hand, unfortunately on extremely rare occasions, human error can mean that a kidney, and not a brain as claimed, is not removed in the preparation process. 

"Although Mr Lally did not contact us and we have had no opportunity to investigate, it appears from a photograph that this was the case, and while there was no health risk, we agree it was unsightly. We have reminded staff to pay extra attention when preparing our chicken to ensure this doesn't happen again."