McDonald's McNuggets Fun Fact Stuns Customers

If you eat McDonald's Chicken McNuggets often enough, you'll notice they're perfect for that shape-guessing game usually reserved for cloud-watching. Most McNuggets seem to come in a vaguely oval shape, but as soon as you try to define it as one specific form, you start noticing many exceptions to the rule. This one's shaped like a kidney, that one's shaped like an egg, this one's shaped like . . . a tiny boot?

In fact, if you've spotted a boot-shaped Chicken McNugget you may be onto something more than just a game of ascribing shapes and characters to inanimate objects. You may have stumbled upon one of the lesser-known tricks of the McNugget trade—the fact that they come in four distinct shapes.

A video created by McDonald's Canada several years ago shows viewers how the chain makes its iconic nuggets, and it unveils several interesting things about the process you probably didn't know. For one, the chicken meat in your McNuggets is actually ground. It's then seasoned and mixed before being pressed by molds into four distinct shapes—the ball, the bell, the boot, and the bow tie (also called "the bone"). The video also dispels one of the most popular internet rumors about this item: that it's made with pink sludge.

So yes, your beloved McNuggets are actually made with four distinct shapes in mind, but because they're covered with batter and fried, those shapes are often less noticeable in the final product. According to Business Insider, the reason why McDonald's standardizes the shapes and sizes of its nuggets is to ensure consistent cooking times. But the four different shapes were originally created in order to make them more fun for kids to eat.

"Our Chicken McNuggets are shaped uniquely for kids and kids at heart — it makes dipping more fun!" the company's website was quoted saying.

While McDonald's hasn't been shy about showing the world how they make this top-selling item, customers are stunned every time this fun fact resurfaces in the media. For more McDonald's secrets, check out McDonald's Is Quietly Rolling Out These Updates To Its Bun, and don't forget to sign up for our newsletter to get the latest restaurant news delivered straight to your inbox.