Gross Things You Should Know About KFC

Though it ranks as one of the most popular fast food brands in the world, KFC has had its share of gross moments. It's a well-documented legacy, in fact. There are bound to be some nasty happenings from time to time when you operate over 25,000 locations worldwide. None of the various scandals KFC has experienced throughout its decades on the dining scene has permanently marred its reputation, though some have made a memorable impression. Parent company Yum! has also taken plenty of hits from its other companies, including Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. If you're going to serve fast food to millions of people all around the globe, things are bound to get a little disgusting from time to time.

Not all of KFC's grossness comes from scandalous matters, however. Some of the yuck is baked into the secret recipe for success that keeps this fast food chicken kitchen raking in ever-higher revenue year over year. The menu may be tempting, especially when your mood is headed toward hangry territory and you're hankering for a serving of something crisp and tasty. If you've ever paused while downing a three-piece tenders meal or a bucket of wings with a side of mashed potatoes and honey-butter biscuits and wondered what might be occurring behind the counter besides all that deep-fried deliciousness, we've gathered a collection of unsavory tidbits for you to chew on.

KFC serving millions of meals each year means KFC is producing and processing millions of chickens. What does this mean for the animals? It means crowded conditions that aren't always healthy or humane. As the Guardian reported in 2020, the company acknowledged that inflammation of the foot is common among many of their UK-farmed chickens. Some of this stems from the size of the chickens; a "normal" KFC chicken is super-bred to reach its capacity weight in only 30 days, which taxes its physical systems and makes it difficult for the animals to move. Ammonia from waste products can also burn chickens, which then leads to the need for antibiotics. Pretty gross when you realize these animals are meant to enter the food chain.

Per World Animal Protection, petitioners from 10 countries spoke out against the treatment in 2018, which has led to KFC becoming more transparent with how their animals are treated. As the World Animal Protection shared the following year, KFC committed to pursuing more humane chicken farming methods in Europe as part of a larger effort among food providers to prevent cruelty and neglect in the animal food industry. In 2020, KFC announced the company would be implementing a new set of worldwide guidelines for chicken farming practices. But as the Guardian noted in 2022, there's still some debate about the chickens' living conditions. 

When cramped conditions cause animal illness on their chicken farms, KFC has used antibiotics as a solution in the past. Per Reuters, they would even inject antibiotics through eggshells and into the eggs of chicks that had yet to hatch. But there are dangers to introducing these medications into the food chain, which has caused the germs they're meant to kill to become drug-resistant, until the antibiotics no longer work on humans. According to a study published in Frontiers in Microbiology conducted by microbiologists who've studied the global impact, the results of this resistance to the current antibiotics are troubling, with many antibiotics becoming useless against bacterial infections they were meant to treat. 

This development has reverberated through the medical world and prompted food providers to take action. Though KFC used human antibiotics on their chickens on a regular basis, in 2017, the company pledged to change their practices in order to eliminate the need for antibiotics among their chicken populations, per the AP. In 2019, the NRDC reported they successfully reached that goal.

For better or worse, social media has given us a window into the world of fast food, as it did when a TikTok user posted a video of what appeared to be KFC's in-restaurant process for creating gravy (via Daily Mail). The 2020 clip shows bits of overcooked chicken from the bottom of the fryer being transformed through the magic of a water bath and a packet of spices and seasonings into the muddy brown liquid poured over mashed potatoes. According to the Mirror, many viewers took no offense to the process; as one commenter put it, "People getting funny about gravy being made from chicken fat. HOW DID YOU ACTUALLY THINK GRAVY WAS MADE?" However, others said they felt ill after watching the video, vowing never to eat gravy and KFC again. 

Not surprisingly, copycat recipes for homemade KFC gravy make no mention of using fryer trash as an ingredient. While creating new food from kitchen waste may seem like a great way to minimize unnecessary throw-aways, recycling fried chicken sludge into savory dinner sauce is best avoided in favor of fresher ingredients that don't inspire gagging noises.

One thing you should never find in a kitchen of any kind is fecal material. When this gross phenomenon occurs, questions naturally arise about the source and how this nauseating substance made its way into the food prep area. And so it was when fecal contaminants were found in the ice machines at several U.K.-based KFC locations. As the Independent reported at the time, samples were taken for inspection from a list of restaurants that included KFCs from across the region, returning results that showed significant levels of fecal coliform bacteria in the ice itself. 

Considering the government standard for such contaminants is a hard zero, the results were not just disgusting; they also posed a serious health risk to customers. Per Metro, to address the issue, the ice machines in all U.K. locations were immediately inspected and cleaned, and KFC reinforced its in-restaurant hygiene standards. It goes without saying that when this kind of gross business shows up behind counters in the fast food business, getting it cleaned up as quickly as possible is serious business.

As seriously as KFC may take food safety after issues are discovered, some markets have tested the limits in gross ways that could have made customers incredibly ill. Per the AP (via USA Today), KFC found themselves in a bit of a pickle when a 2014 report revealed that repackaged chicken with "new" expiration dates on the label had been sold to several fast food restaurants in China, including KFC. 

The scandal followed a 2013 report regarding excessive use of antibiotics in chickens destined for KFC kitchens, which, as Reuters reported, prompted KFC to cut ties with several distributors. As noted by CNN, this double whammy unsurprisingly led to a massive 13% drop in KFC year-over-year same-store sales in the region. It turns out when people learn about repulsive practices within the restaurant industry, they're less eager to keep eating at the offending restaurants, even when the incident is a mistake— and especially when it isn't. But everyone loves a comeback story, and eventually KFC sales rebounded.

When it comes to the gross things KFC has in its history, there are some that have led to more than just bad reviews and viral videos. As reported in the Financial Post, one of the more serious gross incidents led to a tragic situation involving a family and a large financial court ruling against the company. Monika Samaan was seven years old in 2005 when she ate a Twister wrap suspected to be tainted with salmonella at a KFC near Sydney, Australia. She, her parents, and her brother were all hospitalized following the meal. 

While her family recovered, Samaan's resulting infection left her with brain damage and rendered her wheelchair bound. In April 2012, KFC was ordered to pay the family $8 million Australian dollars, or $8.3 million U.S. dollars, in damages and court costs. Though KFC executives admitted the tragedy of the situation, they were also surprised by the ruling and appealed, though according to Franchisee Business, their appeal was eventually dismissed and the company was forced to pay the amount.