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Chicken McNuggets

20-piece (1997 packaging)
Serving size	10 pieces (159g)
Calories	485
Calories from fat	260
Total fat	29 g (44% of US Dietary Reference Intake)
Saturated fat	5 g (25%)
Cholesterol	70 mg (23%)
Sodium	1000 mg (42%)
Total carbohydrate	27 g (9%)
Dietary fiber	0 g
Sugars	0 g
Protein	24 g
Vitamin A	(0%)
Vitamin C	(2%)
Calcium	(2%)
Iron	(8%)
Source	McDonald's
Notes	May vary outside US. Dietary Reference Intake based on 2000 cal. diet.

Chicken McNuggets (introduced in June 1980 at test markets, nationwide in January 1983) are a fast food product offered by the restaurant chain McDonald's and are one of the most popular trademarked items on the McDonald's menu.

McNuggets, as they are commonly known, are small pieces of formless chicken that have been battered and deep fried. They are sold in packages of 4, 6, 10 (9 in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Singapore and Russia) and 20 . In New Zealand and Australia, they are also available in 3 packs in Happy Meals and Heart Foundation approved Tick healthy meals. They come with a choice of various flavors of dipping sauce. They have been lately introduced in India first as a part of its "Breakfast Meal" and then McDonald's introduced them in the Regular Menu in May 2009.

Product description

The Chicken McNugget is a small piece of minced chicken breast and mechanically separated meat held together with phosphate salts and some chicken skin. The pieces are then coated with batter, lightly fried to set the batter, individually quick frozen, packaged, and sent to stores. At the McDonald's stores, the McNuggets are deep-fried and sold. According to McDonald's, Chicken McNuggets are made entirely of white meat chicken.^[1] McNuggets come in three different shapes: "The Boot", named for its boot-like appearance, "The Tombstone", named for its tombstone-like appearance, and "The Circle", which may have a slightly ovular appearance.

Controversy

In 1985, James Oliver Huberty killed 21 people and wounded 19 others at a McDonald's in San Ysidro, California, in what became known as the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre. In 1986, his widow, Etna Huberty, unsuccessfully sued McDonald's and Babcock and Wilcox, Huberty's longtime former employer, in an Ohio state court for $5 million, claiming that the massacre was triggered by the combined mixture of McDonald's food (including Chicken McNuggets) and work around poisonous metals. She alleged that monosodium glutamate in the food, combined with the high levels of lead and cadmium in Huberty's body, induced delusions and uncontrollable rage. An autopsy did reveal high levels of the metals,^[2] most likely built up from fumes inhaled during 14 years of welding. Autopsy results also revealed there were no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the killings.

The 2004 documentary Super Size Me states that the McDonald's Chicken McNuggets, originally made from old chickens no longer able to lay eggs, are now made from chickens with unusually large breasts. These chickens are stripped down to the bone, and then "ground up" into a chicken mash then combined with a variety of stabilizers and preservatives, pressed into familiar shapes, breaded and deep fried, freeze dried, and then shipped to a McDonald's near you."^[3] Super Size Me also alleged that they included chemicals such as tertiary butylhydroquinone (a phenolic antioxidant), polydimethylsiloxane (an anti-foaming agent), and other ingredients not used by a typical home cook. As of 2007, these two ingredients were still listed as possible ingredients of the vegetable oil that is used to fry McNuggets. In a 2002 lawsuit against McDonald's, the judge claimed Chicken McNuggets are a "McFrankenstein" creation of various elements not used by the home cook.^[3]

According to raw ingredients listing on the wholesale packaging of Chicken McNuggets in any variant, chicken breast accounts for almost 50% of the product.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

References

• McDonald's South Africa, "Nuggets" retrieved from http://www.mcdonalds.co.za/background.html on 09-02-2007.
• McDonald's United States corporate website, Get the Nutrition Facts for a McDonald's Menu Item retrieved from http://app.mcdonalds.com/bagamcmeal?process=menuitems on 9-02-2007.
• McDonald's UK Corporate Website, "Fries and Dips" retrieved from http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ on 09-02-2007.
• A metal McNugget mold as wall art in the Madrid International Airport McDonald's http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakeisbadman/3721610125/

External links

• Ingredients list at McDonald's.com

• the McNuggets Village - Winter Olympics 2010