WHAT’S INSIDE
(and why it’s there)
We’re not here to hide behind “natural” buzzwords or pretend science doesn’t exist. Some ingredients keep food safe, consistent, and crispy. Others are just cheap shortcuts dressed up in marketing fluff. We use the first kind — the ones that do their job without screwing with your body.
Not all numbers are bad — some make food better. There are good numbers and bad ones. We only use the good ones.
Here’s everything that goes into our nuggets:
Australian chicken (73% skin-on breast), rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, salt, garlic, onion, herbs, spices, yeast extract, sugar, dextrose, thickeners (1422, 1412, 415, 461), acidity regulator (500), anti-caking agent (170), natural flavour, and canola oil.
That’s it. No preservatives. No fake flavours. No lies.
Scroll down and we’ll break it all down — every ingredient, every number, what it does, how much is in it, and what it actually means for your body.
Because transparency shouldn’t be a marketing claim — it should be the baseline.
AUSTRALIAN CHICKEN (73%)
We use real skin-on chicken breast, not a pink paste of leftovers. Most nuggets start with mechanically separated chicken — carcasses pressure-blasted until bone, tendon, and tissue turn into a paste. Then it’s chemically washed with ammonia or chlorine, glued back together with binders, and flavoured to taste like something that used to be food. We don’t do that. Ours starts with whole, skin-on chicken breast — hand-trimmed, diced, minced, seasoned, and formed. The skin stays on for flavour, collagen, and a little natural fat — nature’s juiciness enhancer.
Each 5-nugget serve packs 13.6 g of protein — about three eggs’ worth. Real, complete, bioavailable protein that fuels muscle, keeps you full, and actually nourishes you.
Why it matters: Protein curbs hunger, boosts metabolism, and helps recovery. You’re not just snacking — you’re refuelling.
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RICE FLOUR
The base of our gluten-free crunch. Most nugget coatings are cheap wheat flour bulked with gums, stabilisers, and “seasoning systems” that taste like salt and cardboard. They’re heavy, oily, and trap grease instead of crisping up. We use rice flour — light, neutral, naturally gluten-free, and clean on the tongue. It crisps fast, stays crisp, and lets the chicken lead.
What it does: The skeleton of the coating.
Why it’s better: Cleaner flavour, better texture, and zero gluten bloat.
In your body: Simple carb, easily digested energy — not a wheat bomb.
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POTATO & TAPIOCA STARCH
The crunch engineers. Where most nuggets rely on industrial crumb systems full of modified gluten or emulsifiers, we use natural starches — potato for body, tapioca for elasticity. Potato starch locks in moisture; tapioca starch gives that signature shattering crunch. Together, they create the “crispy outside, juicy inside” balance everyone’s chasing.
What they do: Keep juiciness in, crispness out.
Why we use them: They’re plants, not powders — doing what food should do.
In your body: Clean carbohydrates, nothing processed or weird.
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SEA SALT
Plain, clean seasoning — no anti-caking silicates, no “sodium flavour enhancer.” Most processed foods use blends of iodised salt + flow agents + anti-caking powders to keep things pourable in factories. We use Australian sea salt, harvested and unbleached.
What it does: Balances flavour and enhances natural taste.
Why it’s better: You get real salinity without the chemical aftertaste.
In your body: Electrolytes, not excess.
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GARLIC & ONION POWDER
Real flavour, not “flavouring.” The cheap route? “Chicken seasoning” — a cocktail of artificial flavour, MSG, yeast powder, and “natural flavourings” that legally don’t have to be natural at all. We just use dehydrated garlic and onion, ground from the real thing. They add savoury warmth, depth, and balance without fakery.
What they do: Build the base of umami.
Why they’re better: Recognisable, pronounceable, powerful.
In your body: Plant compounds with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory benefits — actual food doing food things.
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HERBS & SPICES
The finishing touch. Paprika, pepper, and a few secret friends — nothing lab-synthesised, nothing fluorescent. Many commercial nuggets fake “golden brown” with caramel colour (E150d) or annatto dye. Ours get their colour and warmth from real spice pigments — paprika’s natural carotenoids.
What they do: Colour, aroma, flavour lift.
In your body: Trace antioxidants and the smell of actual cooking.
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YEAST EXTRACT
Natural umami from yeast cells — not MSG. MSG isn’t evil, but fake “chicken flavour” built on it is lazy. Yeast extract delivers that deep, savoury taste the right way — through amino acids and natural glutamates.
What it does: Makes the flavour feel round, rich, and satisfying.
Why it’s better: No synthetic boosters. Just fermentation magic.
In your body: Source of B-vitamins and amino acids. Tiny dose, big taste.
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SUGAR & DEXTROSE
For colour, not candy. Most brands use sugar to mask cheap meat and harsh seasoning. We use it for one reason only: browning. Dextrose helps the crust caramelise evenly during cooking — like searing a steak.
What it does: Maillard reaction = golden crunch.
Why it’s better: Used for texture, not taste.
Perspective: You’d need 15 kg of nuggets to equal one can of Coke.
In your body: Less than half a gram per serve — gone before you notice.
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CANOLA OIL
Used only once — to par-fry before freezing. Fast-food nuggets swim in oil; ours just take a dip. That quick fry locks in the coating so you can finish them in your oven or air-fryer without grease puddles.
What it does: Sets the crunch.
Why it’s better: Light, clean, high-heat-stable.
Perspective: You’d need 3 kg of nuggets to match the oil in one medium fries.
In your body: Neutral fat. We’ll move to beef talow as we scale.
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NOW, ABOUT THOSE NUMBERS
You’ve seen them before: those scary-looking codes that sound like they belong in a chemistry set. Ours don’t hide secrets — they just describe everyday starches and fibres the long way. All safe, all tested, all used in microscopic doses.
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1422 – Acetylated Distarch Adipate
Stops sogginess and keeps crispness even after freezing.
Used in: Custards, pie fillings, ice cream — about 20× more than we use.
Perspective: You’d need 40 kg of nuggets to hit your daily limit.
Reality Scale: 🟢 2/10 (Very safe).
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1412 – Distarch Phosphate
Makes starch stable under heat — your coating doesn’t crumble.
Used in: Instant mash, soups, sauces.
Perspective: 35 kg of nuggets to reach the daily limit.
Reality Scale: 🟢 2/10.
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415 – Xanthan Gum
Keeps the batter smooth and clingy.
Used in: Ice cream, salad dressings, gluten-free baking — about 50× more than we use.
Perspective: 20 kg of nuggets = one tub of ice cream’s worth.
Reality Scale: 🟢 3/10.
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461 – Methylcellulose
Adds juiciness and binding — so you bite into meat, not crumbs.
Used in: Plant-based burgers — 10× more than we use.
Perspective: 25 kg of nuggets to match one vegan burger.
Reality Scale: 🟢 3/10.
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500 – Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)
Balances acidity and boosts browning.
Used in: Every cake you’ve ever baked.
Perspective: 70 kg of nuggets = one teaspoon.
Reality Scale: 🟢 1/10.
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170 – Calcium Carbonate
Stops clumping in dry mix.
Used in: Toothpaste, vitamins — 200× more per serve.
Perspective: 100 kg of nuggets = one calcium tablet.
Reality Scale: 🟢 2/10.
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PERSPECTIVE CHECK
All our “numbers” combined? Less than 1 % of the nugget. You’d hit your protein goal long before you reached any additive limit. Chemistry isn’t the villain — dishonesty is.
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FINAL WORD
We don’t make “mechanically recovered marketing food.” We make real food that tells the truth. Every ingredient in UNHAPPY has a purpose: to make the chicken taste better, stay safer, and feel like food again. No chemical de-boning. No glue meat. No fake health halos.
UNHAPPY. Real chicken. Real protein. Real transparency.