DeShazo and Bigler's work is published in the American Journal of Medicine. This is what they saw:

(University of Mississippi)

The nugget from the first restaurant (breading not included) was approximately 50 percent muscle. The other half was primarily fat, with some blood vessels and nerve, as well as "generous quantities of epithelium [from skin and visceral organs] and associated supportive tissue." That broke down overall to 56 percent fat, 25 percent carbohydrates, and 19 percent protein.

The nugget from the second restaurant was 40 percent skeletal muscle, as well as "generous quantities of fat and other tissue, including connective tissue and bone." That was 58 percent fat, 24 percent carbs, and 18 percent protein.

"We've taken a very healthy product—lean, white meat—and processed it, goo-ed it up with fat, sugar, and salt [in the breading]," he said. "Kids love that combination." So do non-kids.

DeShazo and Bigler's conclusion: "Chicken nuggets are mostly fat, and their name is a misnomer." That is, "because the predominant components aren't chicken." At least, not in the sense that chicken implies meat (not fat and skin).

"When chicken is processed, there's some chicken left on the bone," deShazo—who also hosts a wellness program on the local public radio affiliate— explained. "You can actually vibrate that stuff off, and you get these chicken leftovers, and you can put it together, mix it up with other substances, and come out with a goo that you can fry and call a chicken nugget. It's a combination of chicken, carbohydrates, and fats, and other substances that make it glue together. It's almost like super glue that we're eating. In some fast-food restaurants."

Chef Jamie Oliver made nuggets that way a few years ago on his television show Food Revolution, in front of kids, chopping and blending a remnant carcass. The feckless children screamed, but still asked to eat the nuggets. "We've brainwashed our kids so brilliantly," Oliver said, "that even though they know something is disgusting and gross, they'll still eat it if it's in that friendly little shape."

The National Chicken Council (NCC) is unimpressed by deShazo's work. "Chicken nuggets are an excellent source of protein," Dr. Ashley Peterson, NCC's vice president of science and technology, told Reuters. "Especially for kids who might be picky eaters. This study evaluates only two chicken nugget samples out of the billions of chicken nuggets that are made every year."

The NCC maintains, in an appeal to food nostalgia, "Mechanically separated chicken has been used in poultry products since 1969." What's more, emphasis theirs, "[Mechanically separated chicken] is NOT typically used in chicken nuggets or patties. Mechanically separated poultry is regulated and inspected by USDA and products containing it must declare it as an ingredient on the label. Mechanical systems prevent waste of nutritious meat and avoid the repetitive motion that would be required to perform close trimming by hand."