Pascal Verhille walks towards a container and pushes aside the green plastic covering it with his gloved hands: 1 t of meat appears before our eyes. “You see these are very nice, boneless chicken fillets of very good quality,” he comments, grabbing a shiny piece of a substantial size. They really are chicken breasts. We are at Cargill, near Orleans, in a factory that supplies 70% of McDonald's restaurants in France with Chicken McNuggets. And Pascal Verhille, its quality director, has just denied, with supporting evidence, a persistent rumor: no, the famous pieces of fried chicken from the fast-food chain are not made with chicks! “It's one of the legends around nuggets,” he regrets. The McDonald's recipe is made with French chicken fillet only."And point to the label on which appears the name of the supplier, a slaughterhouse in Brittany. The meat, received every morning, is chopped then poured into a blender.
What we then observe in the factory has nothing to do with another legend, launched on the Internet in 2012 by the photo of a huge pink marshmallow presented as the raw material of the McNuggets… “It hurts the heart that people believe this type of rumor, ”he said. After being minced, the chicken is mixed with a marinade consisting of salt, natural chicken flavor and potato starch. Then it goes through a machine where it is molded into four predetermined shapes evoking a ball, a bell, a boot and a bone. Along the production line, the small bites are wrapped in breadcrumbs and batter, bathed in oil, frozen, packaged in plastic bags and then put into boxes. “Here is the product as it is delivered to restaurants,” explains Pascal Verhille. On the cardboard,a label announces: “Chicken McNuggets are free of colorings, preservatives, artificial flavors and 100% French fillets. "
Foods rich in fat
On the other hand, judging by the list on the side of the box, they still contain a good fifteen ingredients.
It's a lot !
What impact does this recipe have on the health of the consumer?
“A nugget is supposed to be a breaded chicken nugget so we expect it to be both caloric, fatty, not very interesting from a nutritional standpoint,” explains Vanessa Bedjaï-Haddad, dietician-nutritionist at Paris.
With her, we compared McDonald's McNuggets, Burger King Newgetts and KFC's signature recipe, Chicken Tenders.
Indeed, this sign specializing in fried poultry does not offer nuggets.
"
The fatest is clearly the McDonald's nugget, ”says our expert after sponging the oil from the three products on paper towels.
“And I almost want to say that there is as much breading as there is meat.
We check on the scale: 53% meat for McDonald's, 47% meat for Burger King and 57% meat for KFC.
Note: McDonald's and Burger King “meats” are not really just meat since, as we saw at Cargill, the chicken is mixed with starch, flavors and salt. , before being breaded.
“In KFC's tenders, there is more chicken, so nutritionally, more protein,” explains Vanessa Bedjaï-Haddad.
You can really see the fibers of the meat.
“It is towards KFC that the preference of the health specialist.
A winner in taste
And in terms of taste? We asked what he thought of Grégory Marchand, the Michelin-starred chef at Frenchie restaurant, also the head of a top-class fast-food restaurant, FTG, where he himself serves excellent fried chicken. “It kinda feels like eating chicken-flavored papier-mâché,” he says blindfolded after biting into a piece of McDonald's nuggets. What about the Burger King? “I have less of an oil taste than the previous one. "The last fried chicken, the cook recognizes it immediately by touch:" it is the tender of KFC, for sure. »And in the mouth? “Frankly, it has nothing to do with it: there is a breading that is crisp and a texture of chicken. Even if it's a bit dry. In its ranking, KFC (€ 4.20 for 100 g) is number 1, far ahead of Burger King (€ 3.16 for 100 g) then McDonald's (€ 3.62 for 100 g).
"My children go to McDonald's from time to time, but it is true that we must avoid supporting this industrial food," concludes Grégory Marchand. And obviously, as we saw at Cargill, the McNuggets are far from being artisanal products… Having said that, if you want to eat fried chicken at a fast food restaurant, there are three things to remember. First, KFC Tenders are better tasting and healthier than nuggets. Then, if you are a fan of nuggets, know that the recipe is much less terrible than people say. Finally, in all cases, consume these products only occasionally!