TYSON CHICKEN STRIPS >> FAR FROM HOMEMADE™

Information updated April 2024

FROZEN READY-TO-EAT COOKED CHICKEN WAS ONCE A NOVEL THOUGHT. With the explosion of frozen food technology, frozen Fried Chicken became a popular convenience option in the U.S. . . .

During the country’s shift towards greater convenience, Chicken Strips emerged as a new format for eating fried chicken.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN STRIPS: Homemade Chicken Strips are simple: Chicken dipped in eggs or water, rolled in breadcrumbs and seasonings, then put in oil for frying.

We’ll use this homemade version as a reference while we inspect what’s in frozen brands of Chicken Strips. Ingredients which are not in homemade Chicken Strips are designated as Not In Kitchen™ >> these are ingredients we would never have in our home kitchen to make Chicken Strips.

TYSON IS THE #1 BRAND: Today, Tyson is the #1 Frozen Chicken Brand in the U.S. (Source: Statista 2024)

Tyson uses different sweeteners in many of their Chicken Strips including High Fructose Corn Syrup. Tyson’s Air Fried Chicken Strips contain five Added Sweeteners including Brown Sugar, Caramelized Sugar, Sugar and two instances of Maltodextrin. (Source: Tyson Web site 4/24)

Shown below, TYSON HONEY BBQ CHICKEN STRIPS ARE BANNED AT WHOLE FOODS FOR TWO INGREDIENTS WHICH WHOLE FOODS CITES AS “UNACCEPTABLE IN FOOD” >> Bleached Flour and Sucralose. Tyson Honey BBQ Chicken Strips also contain numerous commercial ingredients we never have in our home kitchens including Polysorbate 80, Corn Syrup Solids, Natural Flavorings, Natural Flavor, Dextrose and Sugar x2. (Sources: Tyson Web site 4/24; Whole Foods Web site 4/24)

THERE ARE 10 SWEETENERS IN TYSON’S HONEY BBQ CHICKEN STRIPS: This product contains ten Added Sweeteners including Sucralose, Brown Sugar, Sugar x2, Corn Syrup Solids, Dextrose, Honey, Tamarind Extract and Molasses x2.

Q: What is Dextrose?

A: Dextrose is a type of sugar. Candies like Smarties are made from Dextrose:

Seen below, THESE PERDUE CHICKEN STRIPS HAVE INGREDIENTS NOT IN KITCHEN: Perdue Chicken Breast Strips, Organic Crispy Strips and Perdue Honey BBQ Glazed Chicken Strips contain ingredients we would not use at home to make Chicken Strips including Sweeteners and commercial Flavor Enhancers. (Source: Perdue Web site 4/24)

Yeast Extract which is a commercial Flavor Enhancer which is Not In Kitchen.

The FDA does not allow products which contain Yeast Extract to say “No MSG” on the package front because they both contain potentially harmful glutamates >> the ‘G’ in MSG stands for Glutamate. (Source: U.S. FDA 2024)

Discover food + beverages whose ingredients are Closest To Homemade in 275+ categories. Neither money nor products are ever accepted to appear on the Closest To Homemade list.

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And we leave you with a look back at the golden days of Frozen Fried Chicken: