The University of Mississippi Medical Center has issued a press release detailing the results of a laboratory analysis of chicken nuggets from two major fast food chains. Researchers found that the nuggets contained between 40 and 50 percent meat, the remainder being fat, skin, connective tissue, blood vessels, nerves and bone fragments.

While all ingredients are edible, they don’t add up to a good choice, said Dr. Richard deShazo, UMMC distinguished professor of medicine, pediatrics and immunology.

“I was floored,” deShazo said. “I had read what other reports have said is in them and I didn’t believe it. I was astonished actually seeing it under the microscope.”

White meat portions of chicken are one of the best sources of lean protein available, deShazo said, and physicians often encourage patients to eat them.

“What has happened is that some companies have chosen to use an artificial mixture of chicken parts rather than low-fat chicken white meat, batter it up and fry it, and still call it chicken. It is really a chicken by product high in calories, salt, sugar and fat that is a very unhealthy choice. Even worse, it tastes great and kids love it and it is marketed to them,” he added.

deShazo chose not to name the two restaurant chains included in the analysis.

deShazo is a vocal advocate for improving Mississippi’s health. Noting the popularity of chicken nuggets among children, he said the experiment wasn’t designed as a comprehensive study of nuggets from all major fast-food chains. He also said the results from two randomly selected nuggets from two prominent chains do not represent all chicken nugget offerings available.

For the analysis, deShazo worked with Dr. Steven Bigler, a pathologist at Baptist Health Systems in Jackson, who stained, fixed, sliced and analyzed the nugget sections.

deShazo believes fast food chains aren’t necessarily misleading consumers.

“We just don’t take the time to understand basic nutritional facts, this is a health literacy issue, and to push back when our kids and grandkids, who do not know the risks of being obese, beg for unhealthy foods,” he said

The American Journal of Medicine published these findings online in September.