Fast food chain strives to completely disassociate itself from controversial “pink goop”

Feb 5, 2014 21:06 GMT  ·  By
McDonald’s video shows which parts of the chicken are used to make a Chicken McNugget
   McDonald’s video shows which parts of the chicken are used to make a Chicken McNugget

McDonald’s stopped using “pink slime” in its burgers a couple of years ago but, as it turns out, many people still have a hard time believing the company’s claims that the Chicken McNuggets are made entirely out of chicken breast.

“Pink slime” is the name applied to a very controversial goop / paste obtained through the ammonium hydroxide process applied to meat cutoffs that weren’t even supposed to be consumed by humans. Until some time ago, it was found in most fast food product and the revelation of its existence shook the industry to the core.

Some believe that this slime is still found in McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets, but the fast food chain is doing everything in its power to assure you that it’s not. In fact, these morsels of meat available in McD’s joints all around the world are made entirely out of chicken breast – and some skin, for taste and binding.

Embedded below are two videos posted online by McDonald’s Canada in what is an obvious effort on part of the giant to completely disassociate itself from the “pink slime” scandal. Both were shot at the Cargill production facility in Ontario, which make Nuggets for all locations across Canada.

The first one sees Amanda Straw, a certified de-boning specialist at McDonald’s, explaining which parts of the chicken are used for the McNuggets. She stresses that they don’t take an entire chicken, bone and all, and grind it into a paste that later becomes the Nuggets.

The second video actually shows how the Nuggets are made, with supply chain manager Nicoletta Stefou and Jennifer Rabideau, product development scientist, walking the viewer through each stage of the process.

They show a photo of the pink slime and then compare it to the ground chicken breast they use for the Nuggets to prove that they have no idea why people would believe they used the former as an ingredient.

They also say that only breast, skin, and some condiments go into the making of the Nuggets. They were then covered in two layers of batter and frozen, bagged, and boxed and then shipped to restaurants across the country.