McDonald's reveals how chicken nuggets are actually made debunking decades of myths

It's long been shrouded in mystery, but McDonald's has revealed what goes into its iconic chicken nuggets.

The recipe has been one of the most widely speculated about, with everyone from nutritionists to journalists to TV chefs perplexed as to how the fast food giant makes the iconic nuggets.

McDonald's serves around 69 million people around the globe every single day.

For perspective, that's roughly the equivalent of the populations of Mumbai, Denmark, Tunisia, Bolivia, London, New York City, Paris, Jamaica, and Berlin combined.

So, it's fair to say that McDonald's has proven to be quite a hit with customers, and Chicken McNuggets are one of the most popular menu items it serves.

Understandably, many people have been left asking just what goes into the tiny bites.

A fun fact about chicken nuggets is that they only come in four different shapes. These are ball, bell, bone, and boot, which might sound like hints about the ingredients, but actually aren't.

Chicken nuggets being manufactured in France at a central unit. (GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP via Getty Images)

The reason for these four shapes is to have some variety, while also ensuring that the McNuggets cook safely in the same amount of time.

But what actually goes into McNuggets which has made them so popular?

Well, surprisingly, it's actually chicken.

This is what McDonald's themselves had to say: "McDonald's Chicken McNuggets are made from 100% chicken breast meat.

"However, as a percentage of the total recipe when the batter, seasoning and oil to cook the nuggets are taken into account, chicken meat constitutes 45% of the total Chicken McNugget, the other ingredients account for the additional 55%."

So, while the chicken in there is indeed chicken, there are so many other ingredients that the chicken makes up less than half of the full McNugget.

As for the actual ingredients themselves, this is quite extensive.

The nuggets are made at a central facility before being shipped out. (GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP via Getty Images)

There are the obvious things like 'white boneless chicken', water, and vegetable oil for frying.

The ingredients also include 'enriched flour', which contains a number of additives serving particular functions in the food stuff, as well as several other types of flour.

There's also salt and 'leavening' ingredients, yeast extract, lemon juice solids, dextrose (sugar), and 'natural flavours'.

The list also includes 'spices' which are not revealed, as we can't give away everything can we?

As for how the nuggets are prepared, this starts in a central manufacturing facility, which puts together the shapes and cooks them in oil before they are flash frozen.

The frozen McNuggets are then transported out to McDonald's locations where they are fried again to order.