- AW Chicken Grill Deluxe — 89.4 percent chicken DNA
- McDonald’s Country Chicken — 84.9 percent chicken DNA
- Tim Hortons Chipotle Grilled Chicken Wrap — 86.5 percent chicken DNA
- Wendy’s Grilled Chicken Sandwich — 88.5 percent chicken DNA
Because Subway’s score was so different, the researchers tested five new samples of both the oven-roasted chicken and the strips. After averaging those results, they found that Subway’s oven-roasted chicken contained 53.6 percent chicken DNA, while the chicken strips contained only 42.8 percent. The rest of the “meat” product was composed of soy, according to the report.
RELATED: 7 Foods With More Protein Than A Chicken Breast
That’s because fast food giants tend to “restructure” their food, Ben Bohrer, a food scientist at the University of Guelph in Canada, told CBC Marketplace. This means pieces of real meat are combined with other ingredients to improve the taste, extend its shelf life, and make it cheaper to produce for the company. On average, each sandwich contained 16 extra ingredients—all of which are safe for consumption—the investigation found. The researchers also discovered that the fast food chicken contained about 25 percent less protein than what you would receive if you prepared it yourself. (Here are 50 ways to make amazing chicken at home.) What’s more, the samples served up seven to 10 times more salt than unadulterated chicken.
While you don’t necessarily need to freak about the fillers in your meat, as everything added to it is federally approved for safety, it does signal that you might not be getting all of the nutrients you’re expecting to get.
Subway Canada recently responded and disagreed with the results: “Our chicken strips and oven roasted chicken contain 1 percent or less of soy protein. We use this ingredient in these products as a means to help stabilize the texture and moisture. All of our chicken items are made from 100 percent white meat chicken, which is marinated, oven roasted and grilled. We tested our chicken products recently for nutritional and quality attributes and found it met our food quality standards.”
Read the rest of their statement and how all of the companies responded here.
The article Subway Chicken Strips Contain Less Than 50 Percent Chicken originally appeared on Men’s Health.