A product evaluation organization Consumer Reports recently analyzed 12 brands of chicken nuggets including brands like Market Pantry (from Target), Bell & Evans Breaded, Kirland Signature Disney (Costco), and Health Is Wealth.
The report was released this Tuesday where they reveal that many of these products are high in fats and salt. They studied a dozen brands of frozen and refrigerated chicken nuggets, along with two brands made with soy instead of chicken and the brand Chicken McNuggets from fast food company McDonalds. The soy based brands were Boca and Morning Star Farms. The results of most tested brands were similar – too much fat and salts.
With respect to nutritional value the highest scores went only up to “good” with many scoring “fair” or “poor”. Only one brand (Health Is Wealth) scored “very good” but their product was not deemed ‘tasty’. The analysis involved two groups of testers. One with trained adult testers and another with 31 youngsters aged 6 to 17. Target's Market Pantry brand, Bell & Evans Breaded nuggets and Costco's Kirkland Signature Disney topped in taste and were deemed “good” nutritionally. But the report warns that a larger portion of these will bring their nutritional value down to “fair” or “poor”. Boca Original meatless Chik'n and Morningstar Farms Chik'n failed the taste test. The original McNuggets were scored “good” in terms of taste, but only rated “fair” in the nutrition area.
The main three ingredients of the nuggets were sodium from salt, fats and fibers. All three were high in almost all brands. While the third may do good the first two can nullify the good and cause more harm.
The article is entitled, “Chicken nuggets: Tasty, but healthful?” and appears in the June 2010 issue of the magazine Consumer Reports.
The article emphasizes that just because a product is labelled “natural” or “organic” it does not mean that it is healthy. They say it with an example, “…Consumer Reports said that while Tyson accurately claims its chicken nuggets are “100 percent all natural,” one serving (about 3 to 4 ounces) of its nuggets has 270 calories, 17 grams of fat and 470 milligrams of sodium.”
All the three categories exceed limits. The report urges people to read labels care fully and not to be fooled by claims such as “Whole Grain,” “Organic,” and “100% All Natural”.
The report suggested that there was no need to remove these foods from your kid’s menu but give it to them in smaller portions and encourage other alternatives like fresh fruits as snacks.