Although these are botanically derived, a study in Food Chemistry found that the thermally-intense extraction process causes certain compounds in paprika to rearrange, become volatile, and potentially end up in your food. They substituted these artificial coloring agents with naturally-occurring sources like paprika extract to color their foods instead. Restaurants, like Culver's, have started to recognize the public's aversion to coal-derived, synthetic food coloring, which has been shown to promote Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) in children. Ingredients We Don't Love: paprika extract, spice extract, silicon dioxide, modified tapioca starch, sodium phosphates, sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, disodium inosinate (may contain MSG), disodium guanylate (may contain MSG) Nutrition (4 pc, 206 g): 460 calories, 22 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 1,820 mg sodium, 32 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 0 g sugar, 34 g proteinĬalories, fat, sodium per gram: 2.23, 0.11, 8.83 Bite-sized, fun-shaped nuggets may help to satisfy your grumbling stomach on a long car ride, but they're not exactly high protein snacks. It's primary purpose: to artificially enhance the taste and craveability of the food it's used in. Chicken McNuggets, along with many others, contain a substance called autolyzed yeast extract that works like monosodium glutamate (MSG). Most of these menu items are pumped with chemicals that boost our cravings, too. Processed chicken nuggets are concentrated with sugars, carbohydrates, and fats-which our bodies respond to quickly because they offer the most energy (calories) per bite, and because they help relieve stress by bathing your brain in chemicals that make it feel good. More of a frozen chicken nugget person? Check out the sister article to this one, Every Frozen Chicken Nugget-Ranked! These chemicals help make overly-processed foods like chicken nuggets possible because that's what keeps the (very few) organic materials in the nuggets from going bad (or looking weird) after days spent traveling on the road or months in the freezer. Instead, they come from a corn or soybean field (soybean oil, modified cornstarch and mono- and diglycerides), a petroleum refinery (artificial colors like Yellow #5 and Red #40) or a chemical plant (bleached wheat flour, oleoresin paprika, and carrageenan). Fast food nuggets all start with chicken, one of our 29 Best-Ever Proteins for Weight Loss, but also contain several synthetic ingredients derived from sources far from any type of poultry.

Bare chicken nuggets nutrition