Harry Kersh: From calorie
count to portion sizes, we wanted to find out the difference between a US and a UK KFC. This is "Food Wars." Now, you can't actually get
a small drink at a UK KFC. It starts at regular. This is what a regular drink looks like. Joe Avella: This is what
a US regular looks like. Harry: And this is what
a large drink looks like. Joe: And this is what
a US large looks like. Harry: This is a regular fries, and this is a large fries. Joe: Here's the US regular. All right. And you want to go the next size up, this is the US large. Googe! [laughing] Look at how big that is! It's, like, five of
those ones that he had. Googe! Harry: Let's find out
how much a large fries weighs in the UK. Joe: Let's weigh our large fry. Oh, man. Oh! [laughs] They're packed in there, dude! Look at that! Is that everything? Harry: This is what a regular
popcorn chicken looks like. Joe: We have a large popcorn chicken. Harry: And this is what a large
popcorn chicken looks like. Joe: And if you want to go
even larger than the large, you get yourself a popcorn chicken box. Something for you and
your buddies, I'm sure. You're not eating this by yourself. [nuggets plopping] Did I lose any? No, no way! Am I doing this without? Oh, don't jinx it. Yeah, aw, oh! You, you, and you. That all of them? Producer: That's all.
Joe: Crumb. Harry: In the UK, you can
get buckets in three sizes. You can get a six piece, you can get a 10 piece, or you can get a 14 piece. [laughs] Is it...? Ugh. Joe: Eight piece. Whoa! Ugh. 12 piece. Whoa, whoa, whoa. This is, I'm not gonna
even, I can't even dump it. Yo! Look how much chicken this is! Oh, my God, what a mess. Producer: I'm gonna get
the close-up cam now. Harry: Unfortunately, KFC in the UK doesn't disclose its ingredients, but what we do know is calories. For example, in the UK, a drum is 170 calories. Joe: And in the US, one of these guys for the original recipe is 130 calories. But if you get extra crispy,
like this guy right here, it's actually 170. Harry: USA is actually
still winning on calories. That's largely thanks to
the sides and the drinks. If you were to walk into a UK KFC and order a three-piece meal and they gave you a
drum, a thigh, and a wing with a large fries and a large Pepsi, that would come to 1,155 calories. Joe: Our large fry is 930 calories, and our large drink is 380. And if you were to order a three piece with a large fry and a
large drink in the US, it would be roughly this many calories. The KFC in the US has
released its ingredients list. I would like to go over the
ingredients of the french fries at the KFC in the US. All right, here we go. Sea salt, monosodium
glutamate, maltodextrin, salt, dextrose, vegetable powders,
tricalcium phosphate, hydrolyzed soy proteins,
spices, soybean oil, natural flavors, potassium chloride, paprika extract (color),
turmeric extract (color), potatoes (obviously), vegetable oil. It has soybean oil, canola,
cottonseed, and/or sunflower. Beached — "beached." Bleached wheat flour, and it contains 2% or less
of rice flour, durum wheat, whoa, semolia? Sem-OH-lin-ah, sem-ol? Sem-OH-lin-ah. Durum wheat sem-OH-lia. Sem-oh-LIN-ah. I don't know what that word is. It looks like it's easy,
but it's hard to say. Sem-OH-lin-ah? Semolina? Durum wheat semolina, there you go. Dextrin, salt, degermed yellow corn meal. Oh, thank God it's been degermed. Cornstarch, leavings
(sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), dextrose again, xantham gum, there he is! Annatto extract color, disodium dihydrox — disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate, in parentheses, "to maintain color." OK. We add so many chemicals to our fries, we add more chemicals to make it look like it doesn't have any chemicals. Thank you, disodium dehydra, dehydra, what the f---? Yeah, whatever. Harry: Here are some things
you can only find on the menu at a UK KFC. So, instead of a chicken sandwich, what we call ours is the
chicken filet burger. I think it's pretty much the same thing. It's, like, breaded and fried
chicken between two buns, with some lettuce and some mayonnaise. We also have something
called the Zinger Burger, which is pretty much the same thing, but the spice level is
amped up a little bit. You can also turn these
burgers into a tower burger. What that does is adds
cheese and a hash brown to the burger, which, in my opinion, very worthwhile addition. Joe: We have some stuff in our
KFC they can't get in the UK. And, surprisingly, some
things I thought were, like, kind of, like, paramount to the KFC menu. Mashed potatoes and gravy. This to me seems like something that has just always been part of KFC along with the chicken. Look at those mashed potatoes, man. It's a tub of mashed potatoes. OK, let's make a mess. Oh, yeah! Oh, my goodness, put that on the cover of Gravy Aficionado Magazine! Another thing I didn't
realize you guys don't have, biscuits, or, as you call them, scones. This is called the Famous Bowl. It is mashed potatoes and gravy and corn, topped with popcorn
chicken, topped with cheese, all in one bowl. Yeah, this thing, I don't think
I've ever had one of these, 'cause it looks ridiculous. Harry: Now, Joe, I'm glad you also think that the Famous Bowl
doesn't look that great, because, to me, that
looks like a nightmare. Now, we have a slightly different approach to sides in the UK compared to the US. For example, our corn comes on the cob. Baked beans, these are slightly different to the regular beans that you
might put on toast in the UK. They have kind of a barbecue
sauce flavor to them. There's a few other language differences, like instead of chicken tenders, we call ours chicken mini filets. Joe: Mini filets, chicken tenders, they look exactly the same. We got those. Yes, they have corn, but
we have ours off the cob, which I think is not
as good as on the cob. This pile right here, and, I know, they do have wings at KFC
in the UK, yes, I know. But only in the US can
you order them by 48. [laughing] 48 wings! I'm dying right now, man.
Producer: It sure smells good. Joe: They smell so good. The potpie, when I saw
a potpie on the menu, I was like, "Yeah, a little side potpie." No, dude. This thing
weighs, like, a puppy. This thing has kind of
got some weight to it. Harry: I gotta say, the potpie actually looks quite good. We love meat pies here in the UK. You'll often see people tucking into, like, a steak and kidney
pie or the chicken pie. But, yeah, they should probably put that on the menu over here. I think they'd cash in
on the British market. Joe: Let's talk sauces. It's sauce talk. Sauce talk. I think that these
sauces are also specific only to the US and not the UK. The KFC Finger Lookin'
Good Sauce, see that? We also have the
summertime barbecue sauce. Honey mustard. And, of course, buttermilk ranch. Harry: There are a few sauces
which are exclusive to the UK. For example, we have this
Spicy Supercharger dip, which is kind of like a
spicy mayo-type thing. We have some sweet chili
sauce, garlic mayonnaise, another really good option. Garlic mayo on chips is just fantastic. Joe: Why don't we have those sauces here? Oh, man, I want those. Harry: Now, usually, we'd have even more exclusive menu items to
show you, but unfortunately, the UK KFCs are currently
operating with a reduced menu. Here's what you could
normally find on the menu at a UK KFC. [typing] A vegan burger, the Big Daddy burger, a range of chicken wraps, some rice boxes, onion rings, curry sauce, Krushems, and a full range of hot drinks, including English breakfast tea. Joe: In the UK, you can get teas, including English breakfast tea. Now, technically you can't
get tea at the KFCs in the US, but you can get something called Mountain Dew Sweet Lightning, which I think is probably pretty close. Harry: Yeah, that's pretty
much exactly the same as a breakfast tea. Joe: Dude.
im jealous of the american size of portions but at the same time im borderline overweight by now and im sure i would be obese af in the USA.
Now I want KFC
get less for your money in the UK
I noticed as a Canadian that our KFC meals follow the UK side, minus the corn on the cob and bbq beans.
So stupid that he rails against all the "bad" chemicals in fries as if it's not the salt and fat that are killing you.
Maltodextrin = vegetable starch
Dextrose = Corn sugar
Monosodium Glutamate = MSG (totally safe, considered unsafe in popular culture because of anti-asian racism "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome")
Potassium Chloride = Type of no-sodium salt
Xantham gum = Byproduct of fermenting sugars in specific bacteria
Disodium pyrophosphate = leavening agent found in baking powder
Disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate = prevents oxidation of food.
Sodium bicarbonate = baking soda
Durum wheat semolina = a type of flour that has been used for hundreds of years
Degermed yellow corn meal = ground dried corn with the white part of the kernel removed
All of this stuff is completely safe to eat in appropriate amounts. It's the oil, salt, and the insane portions that are bad for you.
I always imagined most of KFC is eaten with family so it kind of makes sense that we have larger sizes in things (like the wings and buckets of chicken and shareable size of popcorn chicken). US household size is 3.14 people and the UK is only 2.3. So on average we have another person to feed. I mean yeah we are fat too, but there's more to it than just "lolfatties".
Also don't get why they compared the extra large popcorn chicken thing to the large popcorn chicken.
I love the mashed potato bowl.
I haven't had KFC in a long time, but I remeber they used to have corn on the cob.
So, basically, everything is more expensive in the UK and you get less of it. Sweet.