has transformed into a poultry-based nation. This ingredient isn’t known to have any toxicity when consumed. It’s used to prevent foaming on the surface of the McNuggets while cooking. This silicon-based foaming agent is found in shampoos, heat-resistant tiles and breast implants. Although it has been entirely banned in the United Kingdom, it remains present in McNuggets around the U.S.ĭimethylpolysiloxane is another ingredient found in McNuggets that has been phased out across the pond but remains present in McNuggets states-side. It has also been linked to hyperactivity in children, arthritis and DNA damaged. 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. TBHQ is a petroleum product that is used in several non-edible substances, such as varnishes, perfumes, lacquers and cosmetics. Tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, is also found among the long list of McNugget ingredients. Since the release of the infamous “Pink Slime” video, people have continued to ask, “What’s really in a chicken nugget?”Īlthough 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. It is now periodically offered throughout the year. It was a solution to franchises that were unable to get a steady supply of McNuggets. Today, McDonald’s sells on average 2,500 pounds of chicken every two minutes, and McNuggets are one of the top selling menu items.Īnother fan-favorite, the McRib, was invented during a chicken shortage caused by the popularity of the McNugget. The fried and breaded piece of mechanically-separated chicken meat took off, and it quickly became a best-selling item on McDonald’s menu around the nation. Often credited with creating the chicken nugget, McDonald’s contracted Tyson Foods to create a winning product in 1979 and the McNugget debuted in 1983. “The Dietary Goals For The United States” made poultry chicken sales skyrocket, and Americans began looking for fast, cheap and tasty ways to eat more chicken.Īnd through the golden arches enters the fast food behemoth, McDonald’s. Congress issued “The Dietary Goals For The United States” in response to the elevated cases of heart disease and other health issues, such as cancer and stroke, which were attributed to the poor and primarily red meat-based diet of Americans.įamilies were urged to cut red-meat consumption and begin substituting steaks for fish and poultry. In addition to the chicken nugget, Baker also invented chicken hash, Cornell sauce, chicken cold-cuts and the chicken hot-dog.Īfter the success of the chicken stick, Baker refused to patent the invention and mailed the recipe to around 500 companies nationwide, giving the idea away for free. He then added powdered milk and grains for a binding agent.īaker’s newly created “chicken sticks” became an instant success in upstate New York, and within six weeks, over 200 boxes of chicken sticks were being sold at local stores.

Baker achieved the concoction by grinding the chicken meat with vinegar and salt in order to dry it. Baker was a food scientist who is often called the “George Washington Carver of chicken.”īaker created the nugget after discovering a way to keep ground meat together without skin, along with batter that wouldn’t shrink when frozen or expand when fried.

Baker in a laboratory at Cornell University in New York in the early 1960s. Even when a butcher would make select cuts, the usual cooking methods were either pan frying or roasting, methods that weren’t conducive to the busy post-war schedules of women entering newly-formed job markets.Īs a result, chicken prices began to fall due to the inefficiency of cooking chicken. The military demand had boosted the production of chickens, but once peace was declared, homemakers weren’t interested in cooking the bird.Ĭhicken at that time was usually sold whole, but it was too small to feed an average-sized family and too large for a single-person meal. The fried bits of poultry and filler have become a fan favorite for young and old alike, and they can be ordered at just about any restaurant alongside a smorgasbord of perfectly engineered dipping sauces capable of satiating any appetite.ĭuring the years after the World War II, chicken farmers faced a crisis. Since their creation, chicken nuggets have become part of the American culinary landscape.

Dad invented dino nuggets