I actually sat down to write a positive post on a fast food chain trying to please those of us who are sometimes “Jonesing” for something quick to eat. But, a little investigating reveals it’s really worth the extra effort to prepare ahead of time and not eat the fast food.
KFC recently came out with their Grilled Chicken. Finally I though, maybe on a whim, maybe on a day I forgot to prepare, there was a local place I could go and eat something that wasn’t too too bad. Well, as it turns out, the big food industry can’t do anything simple. Why I have no idea.
When I think Grilled Chicken, I think about going to the grocery store, buying a package of chicken, bringing it home and sticking it in a big bag or bowl and marinating it with some garlic, onion, cilantro, paprika, some oil (I use walnut oil because it handles high heat better than olive oil), some black pepper, cayenne pepper, Celtic Sea Salt and a squeeze of lemon, lime and/or Orange.
So I thought to myself…”cool, KFC is coming out with something that in a pinch when Ihve that "hungry pit" feeling in my gut, I could grab when I’m on the go. I checked out the basic nutritional info from their web site and although higher in sodium than I wanted, not ‘too’ bad.
Then I pulled up the ingredient list and found the following:
And I quote….
KFC ® Grilled Chicken
Fresh Chicken Marinated with: Salt, Sodium Phosphate, and Monosodium Glutamate Seasoned with: Maltodextrin, Salt, Bleached Wheat lour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil, Monosodium Glutamate, Spices, Palm Oil, Natural Flavor, Garlic Powder, Soy Sauce (Soybean, Wheat, Salt), Chicken Fat, Chicken Broth, Autolyzed Yeast, Beef Powder, Rendered Beef Fat, Extractives of Turmeric, Dehydrated Carrot, Onion Powder, and mot more than 2% Each of Calcium Silicate and Silicon Dioxide Added as Anticaking Agents.
Contains Wheat and Soy
So…..No…..it’s not your simple grilled chicken as is implied. Or do you add these to your marinade???
- Monosodium Glutamate
- Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil
- Beef Powder (I thought they were selling us chicken?)
- Rendered Beef Fat (again, I thought they were selling us chicken?)
- Calcium Silicate and Silicon Dioxide Added as Anticaking Agents (because we all need to have grilled chicken that does not “Cake”)
So here’s 2 tips for you.
1. Don’t ever trust a fast food chain to ever make something good for you. In the words of Ronald Wilson Reagan “Trust But Verify”. Don’t believe the labeling and packaging. That’s where the “slight of hand” takes place. Always read the ingredient list and realize that still isn’t complete.
2. Prepare-prepare-prepare. If you’re leaving your house, prepare your fuel for the day. If you buy it and you make it, it will be better for you that anything you get on the outside.
Again....'nuff said
DocT
Dr. Narson is a 2-term past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s Council on Sports Injuries, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation and was honored as the recipient of the coveted Chiropractic Sports Physician of the Year Award in 1999-2000. He practices in Miami Beach, Florida at the Miami Beach Family & Sports Chiropractic Center; A Facility for Natural Sports Medicine.
