Dubai Municipality dispels ‘chicken nuggets rumours’

Officials have sought to reassure concerned members of the public after rumours spread on social media that whole chickens were being minced during chicken nugget production.

DUBAI // Reassurances have been offered to chicken nugget lovers by Dubai Municipality after a video circulated on social media appearing to show whole chickens being minced during production.

The video clip was widely viewed on social media, prompting the municipality’s food safety department to issue a statement insisting all chicken nuggets produced in the UAE are safe to eat.

Khalid Sharif, director of the department, denied the authenticity of the footage, which appears to show chicken nuggets being produced by grinding a whole chicken, including viscera.

“It appears in the video that the poultry is placed in the machine for shredding and the minced meat is in red colour,” he said.

“There is no evidence of feathers or remnants of animal parts, because if you were grinding the whole chicken the product colour will not be white, as is the colour of chicken nuggets available in the market.”

“It cannot be applied in practice, as feathers, viscera and legs carry microbes in large quantities and would spread to the product causing serious health problems.”

Mr Sharif insisted that all production factories in the UAE are subject to rigorous food safety inspections.