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When it comes to fast food ordering, navigating the menu can be tricky. You’re not sure whether the salads are even healthy, and some meals can even top 1,000 calories.
One thing that fast food workers universally agree is that you should avoid the menu items containing grilled chicken nine out of ten times. Why are these seemingly healthy options almost always a no-no at places like Burger King and McDonald’s?
Well, it has nothing to do with the calorie count and everything to do with the time it takes to prepare them, freshness (so important for chicken–you don’t want it to be chewy!), as well as cross-contamination with other foods on the grill. Here’s everything you need to know:
Grilled Chicken
“Don’t count on chicken tenders or grilled chicken sandwiches or salads being made quickly at Burger King,” Reddit user Shmandameyes said in a post from 2016.
"I remember that the tenders took forever to cook and we didn't really make them that often, so most times they were made to order," they continued. "Same for the grilled chicken." Well, what's the point of fast food if it isn't fast?
People with food allergies should be careful when it comes to ordering any items cooked on the grill, including grilled chicken.
"Don't order grilled foods if you're gluten-free," a Chick-fil-A employee SwagSorcerer agrees. "While technically gluten free — a lot of cross contamination can occur. Be specific to be safe."
You should also beware of what lengths fast food chains will go to to keep chicken from going dry. A Panda Express worker explained, "You should never order orange chicken. Yeah it might be the most popular item, but sometimes when it isn't busy, and the food get dried up, we put uncooked sauce on it to make it more moisturized." That is disgusting!
There are also quality controls with fresh versus frozen chicken options. "The only thing I wouldn't eat is the chicken parmesan," a Jersey Mike's employee with the user Dr_Schalke warns. "It's a frozen pre breaded chicken patty that we just microwaved for a few mins that just turns to mush in the sandwich. It was gross, stick to the cold cut subs or cheesesteaks."
Or, they just might be microwaving it. "At our Subway, the 'oven roasted' chicken was actually boiled in a microwave." user Hotpotabo explained. Come, on that's just lazy!
Well, we've officially lost our appetite.
