Is KFC Chicken Real? (Fake Chicken, What It’s Made Of, Where Does It Come From + More)

KFC’s chicken is a fried chicken dish coated with a batter of flour and spices. The batter gives the chicken its distinctive crunchy, golden brown color and flavor. 

But how do you know if the chicken KFC sells is 100% real? In this post, I’ll share everything that I have discovered about KFC chicken!

Is KFC Chicken Real?

KFC chicken is 100% real and consists of genuine chicken wings, breasts, and thighs. However, chicken conspiracy theories and past rumors indicate that KFC doesn’t sell real chicken because they use additives, especially fried chicken cooked with 11 “secret” species, herb blends, and special pressure fryers.

If you want to determine whether KFC chicken is real or fake, what it’s made of, and where it comes from, keep reading!

What Is KFC Chicken Made Of?

KFC chicken is typically made of dark meat, white meat, and wing pieces. The dark meat is a mix of the skinless thigh, breast, and leg.

Each piece of the chicken is thoroughly inspected before being hand-breaded and about 7 times in KFC’s signature blend of herbs and spices.

Next, the chicken pieces are cooked in canola oil at low temperatures ‒ preserving their great taste.

Where Does KFC Chicken Come From?

Some of the suppliers of KFC Chicken include Koch Foods, Tyson, Pilgrim’s Pride, and Case Farms.

The supplies provide the company with whole chickens, fresh or frozen chicken pieces, and sometimes ready-to-cook pre-battered pieces of split chicken breasts.

KFC generally uses only poultry with no added hormones. It also specifies that its poultry suppliers use only feed free of animal byproducts, antibiotics, synthetic growth hormones, and other additives.

How Is KFC Chicken Raised?

How Is KFC Chicken Raised?

KFC’s policy includes strict specifications for how chickens are raised. These specifications include the population density in chicken sheds, the proportion of light to dark hours each day, and chicken access to litter, usually wood shavings.

Additionally, the chickens are fed a vegetarian diet of non-GMO feed and water and a range of other ingredients, including soybean oil and molasses. 

This is because the diet of KFC chicken affects its health in many ways. It provides protein, energy, minerals like calcium and iron, omega-3 fatty acids like DHA, antioxidants, and support for the immune system.

Moreover,  the chickens’ feed provides them with the nutrients they need to stay healthy and grow big chickens that provide meat for KFC restaurants.

If it’s not fresh, the chicken will be unhealthy and not grow to its full potential ‒ which is why chicken feeding and care is essential for KFC and its customers.

Is It True That KFC Chickens Suffer Painful Inflammation?

Unfortunately, over a third of KFC chickens on their farms suffer painful inflammations and other ailments such as liver and heart failure. The inflammations and infections are usually due to poor conditions at KFC’s farms.

Although KFC admitted that chickens suffer at the farms, these findings didn’t surprise animal rights activists.

However, it’s still alarming that these poor creatures are met with such terrible conditions on their way to becoming some of America’s favorite fried chicken dishes.

The report also discovered that the chickens’ water quality and living conditions, such as temperature, parasites, and ammonia levels, were not up to par.

To help alleviate these problems for animals and people, KFC has already started to reform its practices.

Does KFC Chicken Contain Soy Protein?

KFC chicken does contain soy protein. Usually, KFC chickens are prepared by mixing soy protein with water, salt, potato starch, vegetable powder, sugar, or corn syrup to create a firm and moist texture before deep-frying it.

While soy is a common ingredient used in many foods and can be found in most products, it contains phytates that can easily reduce your level of mineral absorption.

Is It True That There Are KFC Chicken Made in the Lab?

No, KFC doesn’t use lab-grown chicken.

However, the company has collaborated with 3D Bioprinting Solutions (a Russian company) to develop lab-grown chicken nuggets.

3D Bioprinting Solutions is currently in clinical trials to 3D print a bio-nugget from cells that will be edible and may be printed to have flavors that include chicken.

This means that KFC will create nuggets that mimic the appearance and taste of the original chicken nuggets.

According to KFC, leveraging modern technology can develop solutions to most of the food industry’s problems.

Lastly, it’s worth noting that the bio-nugget is printed using cells instead of a traditional food-grade product like water, salt, and breadcrumbs. 

How Is KFC Chicken Processed and Prepared?

Here are a few steps that go into processing and preparing KFC chicken:

  • Slaughtering: The first step of processing the chicken starts with slaughtering chickens and cleaning debris from their insides.
  • Washing: The chicken carcasses are then washed thoroughly to remove all traces of feces and feathers. It would be ugly and bad for customers if there were any feathers in the chicken. The hides and feathers are used in the production of leather and feather merchandise.
  • Cutting: The chicken is cut into smaller pieces to make it easier for customers to eat. It also ensures that all of the chicken gets cooked properly.
  • Inspecting chicken thighs, legs, breasts, and wings: After processing, the chicken is checked for any defects by employees ‒ who will then decide whether or not KFC should sell the chicken. It’s usually a quality control thing.
  • Dipping it brine: The chicken is then dunked in brine to ensure breading sticks. Brine is a traditional preparation process in which chicken is soaked in a salt, sugar, and water solution.
  • Tossing the chicken: Tossing the chicken about ten times dries it off, making it ready for breading.
  • Breading: The chicken thighs, legs, breasts, and wings are then breaded. The breading is usually so fine and flimsy that it makes employees feel their hands are swimming in some fairy dust.
  • Collecting the chicken: The chicken is collected using a basket and placed on a rack to prevent over-breeding. The KFC pressure fryer will fry the chicken for about 10-15 minutes.

To learn more, you can also see our posts on whether or not KFC has grilled chicken, whether KFC chips are vegan, and also if KFC takes EBT.

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Marques Thomas

Marques Thomas graduated with a MBA in 2011. Since then, Marques has worked in the retail and consumer service industry as a manager, advisor, and marketer. Marques is also the head writer and founder of QuerySprout.com.

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