Behold the ingredient list for Kentucky Fried Chicken’s chicken pot pie. And consider your eyeballs scarred.
“Chicken Stock, Carrots, Potatoes (With Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate To Protect Color), Peas, Heavy Cream, Modified Food Starch, Contains 2% Or Less Of Wheat Flour, Salt, Chicken Fat, Dried Dairy Blend (Whey, Calcium Caseinate), Butter (Cream, Salt), Natural Chicken Flavor With Other Natural Flavors (Salt, Natural Flavoring, Maltodextrin, Milk Solids, Nonfat Dry Milk, Chicken Fat, Beef Extract, Ascorbic Acid [To Help Protect Flavor]), Monosodium Glutamate, Liquid Margarine (Vegetable Oil Blend [Liquid Soybean, Hydrogenated Cottonseed, Hydrogenated Soybean], Water, Vegetable Mono And Diglycerides, Beta Carotene [Color]), Roasted Garlic Juice Flavor (Garlic Juice, Salt, Natural Flavors), Gelatin, Roasted Onion Juice Flavor (Onion Juice, Salt, Natural Flavors), Chicken Pot Pie Flavor (Hydrolyzed Corn, Soy And Wheat Gluten Protein, Salt, Vegetable Stock [Carrot, Onion, Celery], Maltodextrin, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Flavors, Dextrose, Chicken Broth), Chicken Stock, Sugar, Mono and Diglycerides With Citric Acid to Protect Flavor, Spice, Seasoning (Soybean Oil, Oleoresin Turmeric, Spice Extractives), Parsley, Citric Acid, Caramel Color, Yellow 5. Enriched Flour (Bleached Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, Water, Nonfat Milk, Maltodextrin, Salt, Dextrose, Sugar, Whey, Natural Flavor, Butter, Citric Acid, Dough Conditioner, L-Cysteine Hydrochloride, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate (Preservatives), Colored With Yellow 5 & Red 40. Fresh Chicken Marinated With: Salt, Sodium Phosphate and Monosodium Glutamate. Breaded With: Wheat Flour, Salt, Spices, Monosodium Glutamate, Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate), Garlic Powder, Natural Flavorings, Citric Acid, Maltodextrin, Sugar, Corn Syrup Solids, With Not More Than 2% Calcium Silicate Added as an Anti Caking Agent OR Fresh Chicken Marinated With: Salt, Sodium Phosphate and Monosodium Glutamate. Breaded With: Wheat Flour, Salt, Spices, Monosodium Glutamate, Corn Starch, Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate), Garlic Powder, Modified Corn Starch, Spice Extractives, Citric Acid, and 2% Calcium Silicate added as Anticaking Agent OR Fresh Chicken Marinated With: Salt, Sodium Phosphate and Monosodium Glutamate. Breaded With: Wheat Flour, Sodium Chloride and Anti-caking Agent (Tricalcium Phosphate), Nonfat Milk, Egg Whites, Colonel’s Secret Original Recipe Seasoning OR Potato Starch, Sodium Phosphate, Salt, Breaded With: Wheat Flour, Sodium Chloride and Anti-caking agent (Tricalcium Phosphate), Nonfat Milk, Egg Whites, Colonel’s Secret Original Recipe Seasoning OR Potato Starch, Sodium Phosphate, Salt, Breaded With: Wheat Flour, Salt, Spices, Monosodium Glutamate, Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate), Garlic Powder, Natural Flavorings, Citric Acid, Maltodextrin, Sugar, Corn Syrup Solids, With Not More Than 2% Calcium Silicate Added as an Anti Caking Agent OR Potato Starch, Sodium Phosphate, Salt, Breaded With: Wheat Flour, Salt, Spices, Monosodium Glutamate, Corn Starch, Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate), Garlic Powder, Modified Corn Starch, Spice Extractives, Citric Acid, and 2% Calcium Silicate Added As Anticaking Agent OR Seasoning (Salt, Monosodium Glutamate, Garlic Powder, Spice Extractives, Onion Powder), Soy Protein Concentrate, Rice Starch and Sodium Phosphates. Battered With: Water, Wheat Flour, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Salt, Dextrose, Monosodium Glutamate, Spice and Onion Powder. Predusted With: Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Salt, Dried Egg Whites, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Monosodium Glutamate, Spice and Onion Powder. Breaded With: Wheat Flour, Salt, Soy Flour, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Monosodium Glutamate, Spice, Nonfat Dry Milk, Onion Powder, Dextrose, Extractives of Turmeric and Extractives of Annatto. Breading Set in Vegetable oil.”
Even taking into consideration all those “or”s, you are looking at one pot pie made from approximately 60 ingredients (some appear multiple times). You would think that with such a hefty ingredient list, they wouldn’t need to pull out that “chicken pot pie flavor” (let me guess, it’s made in a test tube?).
PS: It’s not just the savory KFC items with mile-long ingredient lists. Here is a rundown of what goes into the Oreo Cookies and Créme Pie:
“Oreo Cookie Pieces (Sugar, Enriched Flour [Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate {Vitamin B1}, Riboflavin {Vitamin B2}, Folic Acid], High Oleic Canola Oil And/Or Palm Oil And/Or Canola Oil And/Or Soybean Oil, Cocoa [Processed With Alkali], High Fructose Corn Syrup, Cornstarch, Leavening [Baking Soda, And/Or Calcium Phosphate], Salt, Soy Lecithin [Emulsifier], Vanillin [An Artificial Flavor], Chocolate), Water, Reduced Fat Sweetened Condensed Milk (Milk, Skim Milk, Sugar, Vitamin A Palmitate), Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening (Palm Kernel Oil, Coconut Oil And Soybean Oil), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Milk, Vegetable Shortening (Palm Oil, Soybean Oil, and Palm Kernel Oil), Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riblflavin, Folic Acid), Cream Cheese (Pasteurized Milk and Cream, Cheese Culture, Salt, Carob Bean Gum), Contains 2% Or Less Of Each Of The Following: Cocoa (Processed with Alkali), Modified Food Starch, Corn Syrup Solids, Dextrose, Salt, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Colored With Apocarotenal And Beta Carotene, Sodium Caseinate (A Milk Derivitive), Soy Lecithin, Mono And Diglycerides, Cheese Culture, Carob Bean Gum, Cornstarch, Corn Flour, Baking Soda, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Whey, Polysorbate 60, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Citrate, Disodium Phosphate, Polyglycerol Esters of Fatty Acids, Sorbitan Monostearate, Egg yolks, Guar Gum.”
I leave you with one last curious oddity. Can you guess the first ingredient in the honey sauce? No, silly, not honey — high fructose corn syrup, of course. Honey is the fourth ingredient (it’s also preceded by sugar and standard corn syrup).
PS: KFC’s current slogan is “So Good”.
