Top 5 Disgusting Facts About KFC

Their chicken might be finger lickin’ good, but what about their business practices? Welcome to WatchMojo’s Top 5 Facts. In today’s instalment we’re counting down the Top 5 Disturbing Facts About KFC. Come along as we explore some of the less mouth-watering details surroundings this fried chicken empire.

In its own right, KFC is a fast food force to be reckoned with. Despite tasty competition in the form Chick-Fil-A, Popeye’s, and Church’s, KFC operates in a fried chicken league of its own, boasting over 12,000 locations globally, compared to the competition’s average of 2000. But what if we told you that KFC was just one of the heavy hitters on a bigger team, a valuable asset of a much larger corporate entity, seemingly on a mission to conquer to world of fast food? The American company Yum! Brands, formerly known as Tricon Global Restaurants, operates a trinity of major franchises - KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Now that’s a fast food Empire.

Though the acronym “KFC” had been synonymous with the brand for decades, it wasn’t until 1991 that the company known as Kentucky Fried Chicken officially changed their name to those three letters. Naturally, all manner of rumors began to circulate as to “why”, and gained such traction that KFC actually addresses them on their website years later. KFC claims that the name change was about better representing their diverse menu, which includes many things other than fried chicken. The thing is… back in the day, then-President of KFC USA Craig Kyle let the truth slip - the real motivation was distancing themselves from the word “fried,” which had become a synonymous with bad health.

KFC was the first Western fast food company in mainland China. Since its pioneering Chinese debut in 1987, KFC has opened more than 5,000 restaurants in the country. Making this colossal success even more impressive, is the fact that they were able to do so despite a massive marketing error, which saw their classic slogan “Finger lickin’ good” roughly translated to “eat your fingers off”. Now… one could argue that this new slogan actually makes a stronger statement - “Our food is so good that the residue will be enough to make you commit self-cannibalism”, but apparently KFC disagreed, and opted to fix the translation rather than embrace the new one.

Even in an industry generally disinterested with consumer health, KFC’s list of ingredients tends to be disconcertingly lengthy. On a long list of suspect ingredients, the petroleum-based preservative TBHQ is among the most questionable. Of course, copious amounts of salt, monosodium glutamate and maltodextrin lend a helping hand in making various menu items irresistibly tasty and incredibly unhealthy. In a surprising twist however, it’s their chicken pot pie that’s among the worst offenders. With an ingredient list that reads like a short story, it delivers 71% of your daily total fat, 88% of your daily sodium, and 185% of your daily recommended saturated fat. Yummy!

KFC can stand for a lot of things. Considering the last entry, many people have chosen to call it the “Kids Fattening Center”. Another popular riff on the acronym is Kentucky Fried Cruelty. The franchise has been accused of tolerating, turning a blind to and indirectly enabling animal cruelty perpetrated by their various suppliers over the years. In 2016, a video circulated showing employees at Tyson Foods kicking, punching and stomping live chickens. This was far from the first such case however. A similar incident was documented at supplier Pilgrim's Pride in 2004. Even when direct abuse isn’t present however, animal rights activists call the conditions and quality of life for KFC chickens inhumane…