Meat Extenders, Chemical Extraction in Fast Foods

We all are wonderring about food quality and how to keep costs down. Big businesses are trying to do just that to keep their costs low too. Unfortunately this means reducing costs in meats which sometimes means quality loss. Their goal is to improve their fakes so people like me don't notice any differences when their food is scrutenized...

As I don't like cooking for one person (meaning myself) because it's not time efficient to prepare food for one, I end up going to get pre-prepared foods a lot. Of course I wonder about the quality of the foods but one has to admit some are pretty good fakes.

Here I put a table of restaurants of the meats and comments about them. Note that I have not boycotted any restaurant due to them using extenders, chemical extraction, and "meat glues," but rather spreading my opinion about them. I have simply stopped orderring certain items if I feel they are not real enough for me to eat.

As much as the thought of horse meat (as much as other meats made of animals that could be considered as pets) sounds disgusting, if it tastes like chicken, it's counted as chicken... At least it's not chemicals - I'd gladly eat a horseburger over a sandwich made of 100% meat glue - then again, a salad sounds more appetizing. I suppose ground beef would be the more likely filled with horse.

Restaurant Date first encountered/last sample Extended? Comments

McDonald's 1996/2015 YES When I first sampled their Chicken McNuggets they seemed fairly good. However around 1998 I noticed that one day I had a 50/50 mix of real chicken versus "fake chicken". The "fake chicken" didn't even have the texture of the real thing but it's fried and still tastes just like chicken... Since it was a mixture it's fairly easy to tell. The older real chicken formula I'm sure it still had some fillers but the new formula looks completely fake. But by 2003 they were all the "reformulated" types and I was disappointed. Their subsequent products like chicken poppers are also made of the same fake chicken. I was hoping this would not "extend" to their chicken sandwiches but this day has also come. Around 2008 I started seeing their battered/fried chicken patties not quite look like real meat. It still tastes similar but just does not seem very real. Their grilled chicken patties are starting to become questionable as well, though they make it pretty convincing... I suspect their beef products are likewise but it's very hard to tell.

Burger King 1994/2014 YES and NO The classic example is BK's Classic Chicken Sandwich, which is clearly made of a filler-type material, but it soaks up oils and flavors very well and people have gone to adore it because it still tastes good. However when they started making their premium chicken sandwiches, this switched me over, I never order the classic anymore as these premiums seem much more like real chicken, with higher percentage of actual chicken. And their chicken nuggets and "chicken fries" are clearly made of the same stuff as their classic sandwich.
Again I have a hard time discerning their beef products.
I've stopped going to BK due to their tax evasion.

Wendy's 1999/2015 YES and NO Their chicken sandwiches appear to have high chicken content and tends to be of higher quality than most chicken sandwiches. I haven't seen a significant drop in chicken quality yet. I also vaguely recall their chicken nuggets also of filler and extender quality, but I so rarely order these.
Once again I have a hard time discerning their beef products, but they are considerbly different quality than BK and McD's, but they taste real. At least for now.

Arby's 1987/2015 YES and NO Now clearly Arby's roast beefs do not look like cuts from a cow. These definitely are chemically extracted and filled with extenders. However their new "premium" Angus looks like they have a slightly different composition. However they seem to add a bit too many spices and disguse the taste a bit...
Now I haven't sampled their chicken products enough but they seem still mostly chicken. Not all chicken but much better than BK and McD's...

Roy Rogers 1986/1992 No This is specifically for their roast beef sandwiches, and unfortunately I haven't sampled their food in a long time (as well as being swallowed up by Hardee's) but last I remember their roast beefs are clearly a lot more realistic than Arby's regulars.

Fazoli's 2000/2015 Slightly/Yes When I first took a bite into their Chicken Parmagian I knew this can't totally be from the real bird, mostly because looking at the piece of meat it looked too similar to the other piece. It's not too bad though, but too much effort spent to make the pieces look the same. At least they haven't changed their recipe.

In'n'Out 2001/2012 NO,AFAICT I don't have a good feel for burgers they are hard to tell because they are ground to begin with. However their burgers are more like what I'd see from the supermarket as well as Wendy's.

Chick-Fil-A 1999/2015 NO I was surprised when I compared CFA's chicken versus most other fast food restaurants, and compared with what I've cooked at home. In fact, when I sampled CFA's chicken, it got me *really* thinking what companies are doing to our food. CFA seems most realistic and they haven't dropped quality yet to reduce costs.

Subway 1997/2014 YES and NO Subway has been praised as one of the healthier fast food restaurants. And most of their foods are indeed. However they have definitely cheapened their products. Their chicken breasts - these do not have quite the right texture as if they came off a bird, similar to Fazoli's chicken, once again for uniformity? However their roast beef seems mostly authentic, and is the closest fast food chain I can get to the real deal here in northern Colorado. Just that they're pretty skimpy on the meats.

Taco Bell 1996/2015 ? Ground meats are hard to tell. But since they did mention their meats are not 100% it must be filled, but according to them it's corn, wheat, etc. but not laboratory sourced fillers like "meat glues."

Taco John's 2005/2015 Likely No Ground meats are hard to tell. Their chicken and steak (ask for it) products are chopped into 1 cm³ pieces but are very real, from the bird or cattle.

Sonic 1999/2015 Probably Yes I haven't had enough of Sonic's chicken sandwiches to tell. They do seem a little strange but I haven't had enough samples yet. Once again ground beef patties are hard to tell.

KFC 1989/2015 No but depends KFC - They do chicken right, so they claim. Their chicken is indeed mostly real as if you filled a chicken's bones with fake meat it'd seem a little awkward. However they do add more breading to make their pieces look bigger, but it's not like it's deliberate sabotage. Their chicken sandwiches and chicken strips seem mostly real though have considerable breading.

Popeye's 2012/2015 No I haven't sampled too many of their products yet as there are certain foods that are unique to this chain (else I'd just go to KFC since they're closer) but of the stuff I had, other than breading, seems authentic.

Raising Cane's 2007/2015 No Though they fry their chicken, this looks and tastes very authentic. It's as good as Chick-Fil-A if not better.

Smash Burger 2010/2010 No AFAICT Haven't had too many samples but it tastes realistic from the cattle. Like many burger places, they tend to use the high fat ground beef. Burgers made fresh.

Eurest 2006/2015 No This is a slightly different case as this is a contractor, but the foods they offer are very real without fillers. Unfortunately they do have to worry about mass production while trying to keep quality up (they tend to sacrifice quality sometimes to not use extenders or artificial anti-oxidants), but recently their burgers have become "made fresh" and the quality shows.

Carl's Junior 2005/2015 Maybe I don't order their chicken enough and the times I did, they weren't too bad. A lot of breading. Once again their ground beef products are hard to tell but there are similarities to the McD's/BK patties... Their six dollar burgers unfortunately tends to come to me dry and I can't make a good judgement with them either. I despise their turkey burgers however, might be an acquired taste but not for me. Not orderring again. Circa 2012 Carl's Junior started offering "Atlantic Cod Fillet" sandwiches... For me, this was ingenious! Product differentiation and I think it's pretty good, and not much room for fill (and no breading!) Alas this still soaks up a good amount of oil so if you're watching fat intake, this is not for you.

Jack in the Box 2001/2015 Maybe I don't go here way too often unfortunately as they are far away from me, but their chicken products seem fairly decent, not completely horrible. But it still puts me at slight unease.

Boston Market 2001/2011 No They can't disguise it... nor do they need to.

Culver's 2013/2015 No I had only one sample and their breaded chicken seemed very realistic and so far is acceptable it came off the bird as is. I however am not sure about their "Butter Burgers" - they are very new to me and it hasn't grown on me yet. However I'll give the benefit of the doubt, despite it is also ground beef, that it came from cattle and not a mixture of corn, wheat, and "laboratory meat glues."

Freddy's 2015/2015 ? Once again this is ground beef. The strangeness is their patties are extremely thin, I wonder what is needed to make sure they hold together when that thin...

I don't go to Pizza Hut, Noodles-n-Co, and others often enough to tell, but these tend to not be really "fast" anyway...

Restaurant	Date first encountered/last sample	Extended?	Comments
McDonald's	1996/2015	YES	When I first sampled their Chicken McNuggets they seemed fairly good. However around 1998 I noticed that one day I had a 50/50 mix of real chicken versus "fake chicken". The "fake chicken" didn't even have the texture of the real thing but it's fried and still tastes just like chicken... Since it was a mixture it's fairly easy to tell. The older real chicken formula I'm sure it still had some fillers but the new formula looks completely fake. But by 2003 they were all the "reformulated" types and I was disappointed. Their subsequent products like chicken poppers are also made of the same fake chicken. I was hoping this would not "extend" to their chicken sandwiches but this day has also come. Around 2008 I started seeing their battered/fried chicken patties not quite look like real meat. It still tastes similar but just does not seem very real. Their grilled chicken patties are starting to become questionable as well, though they make it pretty convincing... I suspect their beef products are likewise but it's very hard to tell.
Burger King	1994/2014	YES and NO	The classic example is BK's Classic Chicken Sandwich, which is clearly made of a filler-type material, but it soaks up oils and flavors very well and people have gone to adore it because it still tastes good. However when they started making their premium chicken sandwiches, this switched me over, I never order the classic anymore as these premiums seem much more like real chicken, with higher percentage of actual chicken. And their chicken nuggets and "chicken fries" are clearly made of the same stuff as their classic sandwich. Again I have a hard time discerning their beef products. I've stopped going to BK due to their tax evasion.
Wendy's	1999/2015	YES and NO	Their chicken sandwiches appear to have high chicken content and tends to be of higher quality than most chicken sandwiches. I haven't seen a significant drop in chicken quality yet. I also vaguely recall their chicken nuggets also of filler and extender quality, but I so rarely order these. Once again I have a hard time discerning their beef products, but they are considerbly different quality than BK and McD's, but they taste real. At least for now.
Arby's	1987/2015	YES and NO	Now clearly Arby's roast beefs do not look like cuts from a cow. These definitely are chemically extracted and filled with extenders. However their new "premium" Angus looks like they have a slightly different composition. However they seem to add a bit too many spices and disguse the taste a bit... Now I haven't sampled their chicken products enough but they seem still mostly chicken. Not all chicken but much better than BK and McD's...
Roy Rogers	1986/1992	No	This is specifically for their roast beef sandwiches, and unfortunately I haven't sampled their food in a long time (as well as being swallowed up by Hardee's) but last I remember their roast beefs are clearly a lot more realistic than Arby's regulars.
Fazoli's	2000/2015	Slightly/Yes	When I first took a bite into their Chicken Parmagian I knew this can't totally be from the real bird, mostly because looking at the piece of meat it looked too similar to the other piece. It's not too bad though, but too much effort spent to make the pieces look the same. At least they haven't changed their recipe.
In'n'Out	2001/2012	NO,AFAICT	I don't have a good feel for burgers they are hard to tell because they are ground to begin with. However their burgers are more like what I'd see from the supermarket as well as Wendy's.
Chick-Fil-A	1999/2015	NO	I was surprised when I compared CFA's chicken versus most other fast food restaurants, and compared with what I've cooked at home. In fact, when I sampled CFA's chicken, it got me really thinking what companies are doing to our food. CFA seems most realistic and they haven't dropped quality yet to reduce costs.
Subway	1997/2014	YES and NO	Subway has been praised as one of the healthier fast food restaurants. And most of their foods are indeed. However they have definitely cheapened their products. Their chicken breasts - these do not have quite the right texture as if they came off a bird, similar to Fazoli's chicken, once again for uniformity? However their roast beef seems mostly authentic, and is the closest fast food chain I can get to the real deal here in northern Colorado. Just that they're pretty skimpy on the meats.
Taco Bell	1996/2015	?	Ground meats are hard to tell. But since they did mention their meats are not 100% it must be filled, but according to them it's corn, wheat, etc. but not laboratory sourced fillers like "meat glues."
Taco John's	2005/2015	Likely No	Ground meats are hard to tell. Their chicken and steak (ask for it) products are chopped into 1 cm³ pieces but are very real, from the bird or cattle.
Sonic	1999/2015	Probably Yes	I haven't had enough of Sonic's chicken sandwiches to tell. They do seem a little strange but I haven't had enough samples yet. Once again ground beef patties are hard to tell.
KFC	1989/2015	No but depends	KFC - They do chicken right, so they claim. Their chicken is indeed mostly real as if you filled a chicken's bones with fake meat it'd seem a little awkward. However they do add more breading to make their pieces look bigger, but it's not like it's deliberate sabotage. Their chicken sandwiches and chicken strips seem mostly real though have considerable breading.
Popeye's	2012/2015	No	I haven't sampled too many of their products yet as there are certain foods that are unique to this chain (else I'd just go to KFC since they're closer) but of the stuff I had, other than breading, seems authentic.
Raising Cane's	2007/2015	No	Though they fry their chicken, this looks and tastes very authentic. It's as good as Chick-Fil-A if not better.
Smash Burger	2010/2010	No AFAICT	Haven't had too many samples but it tastes realistic from the cattle. Like many burger places, they tend to use the high fat ground beef. Burgers made fresh.
Eurest	2006/2015	No	This is a slightly different case as this is a contractor, but the foods they offer are very real without fillers. Unfortunately they do have to worry about mass production while trying to keep quality up (they tend to sacrifice quality sometimes to not use extenders or artificial anti-oxidants), but recently their burgers have become "made fresh" and the quality shows.
Carl's Junior	2005/2015	Maybe	I don't order their chicken enough and the times I did, they weren't too bad. A lot of breading. Once again their ground beef products are hard to tell but there are similarities to the McD's/BK patties... Their six dollar burgers unfortunately tends to come to me dry and I can't make a good judgement with them either. I despise their turkey burgers however, might be an acquired taste but not for me. Not orderring again. Circa 2012 Carl's Junior started offering "Atlantic Cod Fillet" sandwiches... For me, this was ingenious! Product differentiation and I think it's pretty good, and not much room for fill (and no breading!) Alas this still soaks up a good amount of oil so if you're watching fat intake, this is not for you.
Jack in the Box	2001/2015	Maybe	I don't go here way too often unfortunately as they are far away from me, but their chicken products seem fairly decent, not completely horrible. But it still puts me at slight unease.
Boston Market	2001/2011	No	They can't disguise it... nor do they need to.
Culver's	2013/2015	No	I had only one sample and their breaded chicken seemed very realistic and so far is acceptable it came off the bird as is. I however am not sure about their "Butter Burgers" - they are very new to me and it hasn't grown on me yet. However I'll give the benefit of the doubt, despite it is also ground beef, that it came from cattle and not a mixture of corn, wheat, and "laboratory meat glues."
Freddy's	2015/2015	?	Once again this is ground beef. The strangeness is their patties are extremely thin, I wonder what is needed to make sure they hold together when that thin...