Headlines: KFC uses genetically engineered organisms and beats their chickens...NOT
Written: Oct 18 '05 (Updated Oct 19 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: The wings are fantastic; the chicken tastes delicious.
Cons: Fried foods will clog your arteries.
The Bottom Line: I really enjoy an occasional meal at KFC. The prices are right and the food is good. They even have healthier options now.
|
|
|
| jo.com's Full Review: KFC |
I wanted to add my review to the hundreds on KFC. Apart from just adding my opinion of the food I wanted to do some research about two claims made against this restaurant. This research will be at the end so feel free to skip it.
I was a full time out of the house working mom. Fast food was a staple in our house. There was a KFC around the corner in Framingham, MA. I also am very familiar with a KFC in Kingston, MA. Most recently we had lunch in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This one was on 102 South at exit 11 in Mastoon Ridge, Stewiacke if you happen to be passing by and have a craving.
I am old enough to remember when the company piloted their honey barbeque wings and then stopped offering them. I am old enough to remember when this chain was called Kentucky Fried Chicken. The wings are back. I must say I often crave them. Although I love my own chicken wings on which I put no sauce but almost burn them to a crisp I love the tangy sauce on KFC’s wings. The wings are not crispy but that is ok because the sauce is what makes the wings so good. I also like the boneless BBQ wings which really are whole pieces of soft white breast meat, drenched in honey barbeque sauce. These wings range from about $3.00 for 6 pieces up to $8.00 for 20. If you are interested six have 510 calories with 31 grams of fat, 970 mg of sodium and 15 grams of sugar. http://www.dietfacts.com/html/items/9655.htm
These wings are not always available but I see them more and more being advertised on the signs that usually sit on the side of the road in front of the red and white awnings and Colonel Sanders’ face.
I have found the restaurants to be fairly similar in their appearance inside. The ones in which I have been have tables off to the side and a corral in which to wait until you get to the counter to order. I have been to some in which I had to clean off the table and others that were spotless. The restroom happens to be conveniently located if you are just literally stopping by.
I have found the crew to be pleasant enough but I haven’t had the experience where they have gone out of their way to be nice except for my recent trip in Nova Scotia. In Framingham I do remember having to double check my order because it was at times incorrect. The staff can be so quick in an attempt to be efficient that I have felt rushed. However in Nova Scotia I noted a larger than usual KFC, a very clean restaurant and a crew member who was very patient with me. My husband was outside with our dog so I had to go in and out a couple of times asking him what we should get.
We resisted the 15 piece bucket special for $15.99. I was told I could substitute pieces if I wanted which is unusual. KFC comes in Original and Extra Crispy. When am I indulging I do prefer the Extra Crispy because I guess I like crispy food! We also resisted the many two, three and four piece deals which come with a side order and a biscuit. The sides like Cole slaw or mashed potato for one person are very small. I never liked the sides enough to get them on a regular basis. Instead I tended and still do tend to go with chicken only. I have ordered corn on the cob and I do like the biscuits even if they are dry.
During my last visit I decided on the grilled chicken twister hold the bacon, mayo and cheese. A twister is basically a wrap. It was good. It is hard to really say it was very good because my mouth was watering for fried chicken. I did note that the chicken was white; there was enough for a snack or small meal and I had lettuce and tomato. If you are very hungry one twister will not fill you up. The cost was only $3.99 so that should tell you that this was not a large wrap.
My husband got the same twister but added poutine, which are fries with cheese on them. He got a huge container. The total for his meal was $5.49. The poutine was good my husband said (I tasted it but in general don’t like it even when he claims it to be excellent.) but nothing special. If you have had poutine from roadside stands you may think KFC’s poutine is horrible. It isn’t but it is mass produced and tasted that way.
I had to ask for condiments which should have been included in my bag but weren’t. KFC has a help yourself soda machine. KFC often runs specials such as “for a limited time” on Tuesdays you may get a wing, thigh, fries and soda for $2.22.
KFC also has a kids’ laptop meal which is very cute and can be seen at the website http://kids.kfc.com/.
My rating:
My rating has nothing to do with my research for a couple of reasons. I don’t work for the company. The claims on both sides seem legitimate however one seems more so to me than the other. The other reason is that hopefully chickens are treated humanely. Most of the food I eat is organic and I eat no red meat. You may not want to know how animals are killed, the pens the lambs are kept in or what is in your hot dogs. This is not a political review. I just am presenting both sides to what seems to have become an “issue.”
I am rating KFC 4 stars. I think their chicken is good; I love the wings and the fried buckets when I indulge. The prices while not as low as fried chicken from the supermarket come close; the ones to which I’ve been have their own parking lots; and my visits have been in and out with very little wait.
Research:
It seems that in 2002 stories circulated about the chicken served at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Kentucky Fried Chicken Hoax.
An active Internet hoax, of the urban legend type, falsely claims that KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is using genetically engineered organisms instead of chickens. The hoax includes reference to an unspecified study of KFC done at the University of New Hampshire and there is no such research or study that was done here. When you read the message carefully you can see it has all the hallmarks of a hoax. It starts with a well known subject (KFC) and a timely topic (genetic modification of animals and plants) and then spins out a story that progresses from possible, to improbable, and finally to impossible. As an extra touch of false verisimilitude, there is the vague reference to a study at the University of New Hampshire! http://www.unh.edu/BoilerPlate/kfc.html
Claim: KFC restaurants no longer use the word 'chicken' to describe their product because they serve meat from genetically engineered animals that the government will no longer permit to be referred to as 'chickens.'
Status: False. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/kfc.asp
The second issue has to do with PETA which (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) came out with statements condemning how KFC treats their chickens. From www.kfc.com
"In 1939, Colonel Harland Sanders first gave the world a taste of his most famous creation, Original Recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken, featuring that secret blend of 11 herbs and spices. Since that time, millions of people the world over have come to love his one of a kind chicken, homestyle side dishes and hot and fresh biscuits. We still take pride in doing things The Colonel's way, utilizing only the highest quality ingredients, innovative recipes, and time-tested cooking methods.
Yum! Brands, parent company of KFC, is committed to the humane treatment of animals. Yum! Brands is the owner of restaurant companies and, as such, does not own, raise, or transport animals. However, as a major purchaser of food products, we have the opportunity, and responsibility, to influence the way animals supplied to us are treated. We take that responsibility very seriously, and we are monitoring our suppliers on an ongoing basis to determine whether our suppliers are using humane procedures for caring for and handling animals they supply to us. As a consequence, it is our goal to only deal with suppliers who promise to maintain our high standards and share our commitment to animal welfare.
To assist us in that effort, Yum! Brands formed the Yum! Brands Animal Welfare Advisory Council, which consists of highly regarded experts in the field. The Council provides us with information and advice based on relevant data and scientific research. The Animal Welfare Advisory Council has been a key factor in formulating Yum! Brands' animal welfare program.
Members of our Council include:
• Dr. Temple Grandin, Colorado State University
• Dr. Ian Duncan, Dept. of Animal & Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Ontario
• Dr. Bruce Webster, The University of Georgia
• Dr. Claire Weeks, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol
• Dr. Kellye Pfalzgraf, Director of Animal Well-Being, Tyson Foods
• Bill Potter, Director of Quality Assurance and Technical Services, George's, Inc.
In consultation with our Council, Yum! Brands has developed guidelines and audit programs for our suppliers in the broiler industry. We are also a prominent player in the joint effort currently underway by the National Council of Chain Restaurants and the Food Marketing Institute to develop comprehensive guidelines for all species of farm animals."
PETA responded
“PETA is asking KFC to eliminate the worst abuses that chickens suffer on the factory farms and in the slaughterhouses of its suppliers, including live scalding, life-long crippling, and painful debeaking. As the leader in the chicken industry, KFC has a responsibility to ensure that the chickens raised for its buckets are protected from the worst cruelties. http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com/why.asp
Yes, KFC formed a talented and well-respected Animal Welfare Advisory Council, hiring four of PETA’s five recommended experts, which led PETA to believe that improvements for KFC’s chickens would soon follow. However, despite the fact that PETA’s recommended animal-welfare guidelines are supported by the four members of this panel who do not have strong industry ties and by KFC’s own scientific research, the company has done nothing to implement them. As an indication of how bad things are, two of the four panelists who actually cared about animal welfare are no longer on the panel, leaving it dominated by industry representatives and apologists who do not have the best interests of KFC’s chickens in mind. KFC’s animal-welfare panel cannot be trusted to provide unbiased advice, and even if it could, KFC wouldn’t listen." http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com/kfcsays.asp
I came across this article from Fox News. It is not a current article and I’m not a huge FOX fan but I believe what is written has merit. This has been edited for length.
"PETA sued KFC and parent company Yum! Brands in July, accusing them of “lying to the public about their animal welfare policies.”
KFC’s Web site had stated, among other things, that “chickens raised for KFC suffered no pain [or] injuries” and that “humane treatment of the birds is ensured.”
KFC’s customer service telephone operators used to tell callers, among other things, that PETA’s claims about the way chickens are treated are “untrue” and that KFC had implemented gas-killing as a more humane way of killing chickens.
Bowing to PETA’s unilateral attack KFC agreed to stop making these allegedly “false claims” and allowed PETA to approve what the company can say about the way chickens are treated.
According to the settlement, PETA is allowing KFC to say that: “KFC disagrees with PETA's claims. KFC believes that animals should be treated humanely. For this reason, KFC has established animal welfare guidelines or vendors who supply KFC restaurants with chicken.”
But the managements of Yum! and KFC are quite wrong if they think this “compromise” will end PETA’s persecution of their business. It’s more likely their effort at appeasement will only whet PETA’s appetite for more of KFC’s blood.
Company management wasn’t so cowardly and naïve last January in response to PETA’s Web site posting of a video allegedly depicting chicken production, including footage of a beak-trimming machine in action.
Yum! stated: “PETA is attempting to mislead the public with an outdated and questionable video on chicken production … The system shown is no longer in use in our industry … Only the sharp tip of the beak is removed (on some male birds to prevent injury to other birds), not the large portion as shown in the outdated PETA video. Precision laser technology is rapidly replacing blade systems.”
Yum! more aggressively hit the nail on the head, though, when it stated: “PETA’s objective is not to improve animal welfare but to eliminate meat, poultry and other food of animal origin altogether from the human diet. They desire a totally vegan society and will say or do anything to achieve this objective. PETA even approves the use of violence.”
PETA still has the same goals. PETA doesn’t care how “humanely” chickens that are about to be turned into drumsticks, breasts and wings are treated.
KFC’s suppliers could keep chickens in posh coops, raise them on gourmet feed and gently euthanize them -- and PETA would still label the treatment inhumane. PETA’s goal is to stop KFC from selling chicken for consumption.
But most would disagree with PETA and its 750,000 members. KFC’s customers, in particular, don’t seem to give PETA a second thought.
There are over 11,000 KFC outlets in more than 80 countries and territories around the world serving some eight million customers each day. Those customers will consume more than 900 million pounds of chicken this year.
Finally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture sets the standards for animal welfare. There are no reports of KFC violating any laws and regulations concerning animal welfare. And there are certainly no reports of Federal Trade Commission or state consumer fraud action against KFC concerning its statements about the treatment of chickens. (my use of bold)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96473,00.html
From www.kfc.com
Antibiotic Use in Food Animals
KFC recognizes that the use of antibiotics in food animals and the possible link to antibiotic resistant bacteria is a complex topic without easy resolution. Use of antibiotics is important to human health, and also important to maintaining the health and welfare of food animals. Preventing disease in food animals translates into a safer product for humans. The use of antibiotics is established by sound science, veterinary expertise, and well-defined regulatory parameters. All antibiotics must be used in accordance with FDA requirements and under the supervision of a veterinarian. KFC's policy prohibits the use of any antibiotic that is significant to human health when used for the purpose of growth promotion. Our policy is enforced through an annual supplier certification process. The KFC Animal Welfare Council supports the judicious use of antibiotics for food animals, under veterinary supervision, to cure or prevent disease, in amounts which are within federal guidelines.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.