Kentucky Grilled Chicken "KGC" CHICKEN?

Kentucky Grilled Chicken "KGC" CHICKEN?

by BecauseHeLives | Published on April 14th, 2009, 9:47 pm | Food

Went to KFC today for a quick lunch and noticed they are introducing grilled chicken this week. I really had a taste for the original recipe but I decided to go out on a limb and try the new grilled chicken instead. When I say grilled chicken I don't mean like a grilled chicken sandwich. I mean full bone-in grilled chicken. And guess what? It's VERY good and I was not disappointed.

I checked out the nutritional info on the grilled chicken and was even more surprised:

KFC says each piece of its grilled chicken has 70 to 180 calories and four to nine grams of fat. By contrast, the Original Recipe items have between 110 and 370 calories and 7 to 21 grams of fat, depending on the piece. The grilled chicken contains from 160 to 440 milligrams of sodium per piece, as opposed to 290 to 1,050 milligrams of sodium per piece of Original Recipe chicken.

An original recipe bone-in chicken breast has around 370 calories and about 21 grams of fat. A bone-in grilled chicken breast has 180 calories and only four grams of fat. The difference is huge. And the best thing is that they didn't lose any taste and in fact the grilled chicken seems to have a pretty unique taste of its own that is different from other grilled chicken I've had. My very health concious teenage daughter hates when we go pickup KFC for dinner because she claims there is nothing really healthy to eat there. It will be kinda hard for her to say that now.

Good move KFC!

Yes, KFC will be coming out with what they call grilled chicken. The only thing is, there are no grills in KFC, at least not in my town. I have a good friend that works at KFC, and has for seven years. The chicken they will be serving as grilled chicken is baked. They do have ovens, just no grills. This is misleading, at least to me. I am not complaining about the quality of the food at KFC, actually, I enjoy it every now and then. It is the marketing approach that they have taken that I dont agree with. I have a grill at home, and I DO grill chicken.

When I worked for Bojangles.... some 17 years ago now.... (wow, am I really that old?) their "oven" style chicken was done in a seperate "air" cook oven thingy.... (If memory serves me.)

Personally I go out of my way to make sure I don't eat at KFC. It's not even the fat that bothers me, its the MSG. Truth is that KFC is BANNED in some countries because they have more MSG than their health ministries allow for. That's insane. Until I see the numbers on the amount of MSG in their "grilled" chicken, I'm still not touching the stuff.

I think the last time I ate KFC was two years ago at a rest stop on the way back from Stonehenge.

Sanjuro wrote:It's not even the fat that bothers me, its the MSG.

Isn't MSG one of the 11 herbs and spices?

Sanjuro wrote:Truth is that KFC is BANNED in some countries because they have more MSG than their health ministries allow for

Which countries would those be? I've seen that stated but never supported and I suspect it is an urban legend, but I'm willing to be corrected.

MSG doesn't bother me and much of the fuss is overblown. There are lots of other reasons to avoid fast food - most of which have glutamate added. Burger King, canned soups, gravy, dipping sauces, canned tuna, self-basting poultry, Doritos and almost all pot noodles all have MSG.

Lots of foods are naturally high in glutamate: soy sauce, black-bean paste, Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes etc. It makes food taste good

Hell even beer contains glutamate from the malting and fermenting process. Not to mention human breast milk.

http://www.ific.org/publications/brochures/msgbroch.cfm

A Person wrote:Which countries would those be? I've seen that stated but never supported and I suspect it is an urban legend, but I'm willing to be corrected.

Any time I hear that something might be urban legend, I run for Snopes. They don't seem to have anything on this claim.

According to Wikipedia, these are the countries KFC have franchises in. There aren't too many candidates.

KFC have adapted to local requirements. In Canada they now kill their chickens by asphyxiation after a campaign by PETA, :roll:

In many countries they have eliminated trans-fats to meet local regulations. If the amount of MSG was an issue I'm sure KFC would change it.

But I don't think MSG is actually banned anywhere, although some countries require labelling of foods even in restaurants.

A Person wrote:
Sanjuro wrote:Truth is that KFC is BANNED in some countries because they have more MSG than their health ministries allow for

Which countries would those be? I've seen that stated but never supported and I suspect it is an urban legend, but I'm willing to be corrected.

MSG doesn't bother me and much of the fuss is overblown. There are lots of other reasons to avoid fast food - most of which have glutamate added. Burger King, canned soups, gravy, dipping sauces, canned tuna, self-basting poultry, Doritos and almost all pot noodles all have MSG.

Lots of foods are naturally high in glutamate: soy sauce, black-bean paste, Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes etc. It makes food taste good

Hell even beer contains glutamate from the malting and fermenting process. Not to mention human breast milk.

http://www.ific.org/publications/brochures/msgbroch.cfm

India it would appear was one country (check wiki and old articles from the mid 90's). It (KFC) was found to be in violation until the govt upped the legal limit.

And sorry, I have seen the effects of too much MSG and its nothing I'm messing with when I can help it.

I guess we all have our limits to skepticism.
:lol:

KFC are in India and while I have seen accusations that it contravened the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 the act doesn't actually specify any level of MSG. It doesn't seem to affect the operations of KFC.

] Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954. Rev 1.10.2004 wrote:664-B. Use of Monosodium Glutamate :- Monosodium Glutamate may be added to foods as per the provisions contained in Appendix C, subject to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) level and under proper label declaration as provided in rule 42(S). It shall not be
added to any food for use by infant below twelve months and in the following foods:
(List of foods where Mono Sodium Glutamate is not allowed)

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) level is not a specified amount. According to Health Canada:

While there is no regulatory limit to the amount of MSG that may be added to food, the amount of MSG added should be at levels consistent with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). In other words, only the smallest amount needed to enhance the flavour should be added to the food.

Now it's quite possible that KFC have three times as much MSG as is needed to enhance the flavour, but that is a very subjective thing.

As for the harmful effects, there do seem to be a few people with a sensitivity to it and those people should avoid ALL foods that contain high levels of naturally-occurring free glutamate, including tomatoes and tomato juice, grapes and grape juice, other fruit juices, cheeses such as Parmesan and Roquefort, and mushrooms.

Not to mention beer (oops I just did)

Fortunately I don't have this sensitivity because life would suck without tomatoes, mushrooms. Parmesan and Roquefort, soy sauce. Not to mention beer.

Unfortunately there has been a scare about MSG, which, like salt, in moderate quantities is not harmful. Salt, corn syrup and other foods have also has been demonized as a result of overly high concentrations in prepared foods. Instead of resulting in manufacturers reducing the quantities in those foods it seems to have resulted in Chinese restaurants having to eliminate it completely.

BTW I have no brief for KFC. I eat it occasionally - I can't even remember the last time I had some. It's greasy, over-salted and over-MSG'd, but if you remove the greasy coating it's not bad. This pressure oven cooked stuff may well be an improvement.

Pineview Style wrote:Isn't MSG one of the 11 herbs and spices?

Yes, the 11 things are: Flour, salt, pepper, MSG, salt, pepper, MSG, salt, pepper, MSG, salt. Unless you include oil as a herb.

Where can I can a bottle of this MSG stuff? Sounds like I should be adding it to everything I eat!

BecauseHeLives wrote:Where can I can a bottle of this MSG stuff? Sounds like I should be adding it to everything I eat!

Most grocery stores

It's often called seasoning salt.

I don't add MSG to anything I cook, but I do use products like soy sauce, fermented black-bean paste, Marmite and other foods naturally high in glutamates.

This Mother Nature store sells a "Natural All Purpose Seasoning" product. You won't see MSG on the ingredients:
Salt and sea salt crystals, special high flavor yeast, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (from soybeans), mellow toasted onion, onion powder, orange powder, soy flour, celery leaf powder, celery root powder, garlic powder, dill, kelp, Indian curry, horseradish, ripe white pepper, orange and lemon peel, summer savory, mustard flour, sweet green and red bell peppers, parsley flakes, tarragon, rosehips, saffron mushroom powder, parsley powder, spinach powder, tomato powder, sweet Hungarian paprika, celery powder, cayenne pepper, plus a delightful herbal bouquet of the best oregano, sweet basil, marjoram, rosemary and thyme.

But "special high flavor yeast, hydrolyzed vegetable protein" contain high levels of glutamates. "Salt and sea salt crystals" provides the sodium. So you are buying MSG in everything but name.

Boullion cubes like Oxo or Knorr and gravy mixes all contain MSG.

BecauseHeLives wrote:Where can I can a bottle of this MSG stuff? Sounds like I should be adding it to everything I eat!

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer. Like salt is a flavor enhancer, except MSG isn't supposed to add its own flavor. It has long been used in Chinese food, although due to the anti-MSG hype many Chinese restaurants now advertise that they use no MSG.

If you want to try it, check with your local grocery store. If they don't carry it they might be able to get it for you. The problem is that MSG has been loudly denounced as one of the "terrible poisons" (and unnatural) that we are warned about by many health writers. Actually, glutamates are prevalent, and found in many natural foods. But there are a lot of people who believe it is terrible for you. So it may be quite hard to find locally. You may have to go to a restaurant supply house such as Superior Products http://www.superprod.com/product/superior+connection/msg+27oz.do?code=OLC600 to find it.

There have been a variety of controlled studies that have shown no post MSG ingestion symptoms, even from people who swear it gives the migrain headaches or nausea or any of the other so-called "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome".

I'm not recommending MSG, but I've never seen any credible evidence that it is bad for you either.

Thanks for the info people!

Ironically, my wife is bringing home a bucket of the grilled chicken tonight for dinner.

Knock yourself out:

http://www.amazon.com/FRESHLY-PACKED-LA ... 045&sr=8-4

BecauseHeLives wrote:Thanks for the info people!

Ironically, my wife is bringing home a bucket of the grilled chicken tonight for dinner.

Ahhhh..... Dinner was very good... and inexpensive. Grilled chicken is on special!

Questioner wrote:Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer.

...

There have been a variety of controlled studies that have shown no post MSG ingestion symptoms, even from people who swear it gives the migrain headaches or nausea or any of the other so-called "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome".

I'm not recommending MSG, but I've never seen any credible evidence that it is bad for you either.

Let me preface this with "I'm only tellin' ya what I heard"... :wink:

First, aside from enhancing flavor, I've heard that MSG enhances any food allergies you may have. With that in mind, the "so-called Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" symptoms are really the enhanced allergic reactions to other ingredients. Soooooooo, someone with a usually-undetectable allergy to mushrooms may have a very obvious allergic response when mushrooms and MSG are combined...

Like I said, I'm only tellin' ya what I heard! :think:

Serendipitous wrote:Let me preface this with "I'm only tellin' ya what I heard"...

First, aside from enhancing flavor, I've heard that MSG enhances any food allergies you may have. With that in mind, the "so-called Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" symptoms are really the enhanced allergic reactions to other ingredients. Soooooooo, someone with a usually-undetectable allergy to mushrooms may have a very obvious allergic response when mushrooms and MSG are combined...

Like I said, I'm only tellin' ya what I heard!

There is nothing about MSG that would enhance food allergies. However, it should be noted that MSG is typically made from what started out as sea weed (kelp). That is a plant protein and any plant can cause allergies. In addition, there are lots of plant proteirs in all the food at Chinese restaurants. Soy sauce is a derivative of the soybean. The research studies just don't show any exceptional problem with MSG.

The dose is also important. Salt in moderate quantities is not harmful, but too much will kill you. It's probably easier to consume too much MSG than salt because too much salt is immediately obvious to the taste buds.

Conspiracy of the Kentucky Grilled Chicken... it's actually got beef in it..
http://beefychicken.com/