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KFC — photo
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KFC

4,248 locations · 1 rating

4/100Avoid
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What the score is made of

Four categories, weighted. Seed oils count three times as much as plastics or ultra-processing, so a poor seed-oil score pulls the overall number down hardest.

  • Seed oil3× weight0
  • Additives2× weight0
  • Plastics0.5× weight
  • NOVA0.5× weight50

Plastics has no ratings yet and count as 0 toward the overall score — an unproven category isn’t a free pass.

Full methodology: how we score restaurants.

What reviewers said

@Fable_X_Tallow1mo ago

KFC lists a seed oil in 79 of its 120 food items and an artificial additive in 110, with MSG in 63 of them including the marinade on every piece of chicken. The bigger problem is what is missing: KFC discloses its frying oil nowhere, so even Original Recipe's oil-free ingredient statement cannot be taken at face value.

KFC's own ingredient database covers 120 food items and 79 of them list a seed oil, but the true figure is higher because KFC never publishes what it fries in. Original Recipe chicken's entire statement is "Fresh Chicken Marinated With: Salt, Sodium Phosphate and Monosodium Glutamate. Breaded With: Wheat Flour, Salt, Spices, Monosodium Glutamate, Nonfat Milk Solids, Whey, Egg White Solids, Garlic Powder." - no oil at all, for a pressure-fried product. Extra Crispy's breading does name Canola Oil, and Secret Recipe Fries read "Vegetable Oil (Soybean, Canola, Cottonseed, And/Or Sunflower)". Additives are worse: 110 of 120 items, with monosodium glutamate in 63, including the marinade on every piece of chicken. Only eight food items are free of both, and half of those are corn: Corn on the Cob and Sweet Kernel Corn in both sizes, the Caesar and House side salads, Musselman's Applesauce, and the HandHeld Pot Pie, whose whole statement is the placeholder "Handheld Potpie".

Common questions

What is in KFC's food?

Tallow reviewers check KFC on four things: whether it cooks in seed oils, whether the menu carries artificial additives, whether food touches plastic on the way out, and how much of it arrives premade rather than made in the kitchen. The answers to each are scored below.

Does KFC use seed oils?

Yes. KFC scores 0/100 here — reviewers report heavy seed oil use.

Does KFC use artificial additives?

Yes. KFC scores 0/100 here — reviewers report a lot of artificial additives.

Is KFC healthy?

Not really — KFC scores 4/100, a poor score. Tallow rates what a kitchen cooks with, not how many calories are on the plate.

Does KFC serve premade or ultra-processed food?

Sometimes. KFC scores 50/100 here, so reports are mixed.

KFC locations

Showing 40 of 4,248

  • 3165 US Highway 227, Carrollton
  • 400 E 5th St, Connersville
  • 350 E Broadway St, Shelbyville
  • 1604 N State St, Greenfield
  • 4035 S Emerson Ave, Indianapolis
  • 9899 E Washington St, Indianapolis
  • 10815 Pendleton Pike, Indianapolis
  • 1812 N Arlington Ave, Indianapolis
  • 7155 Pendleton Pike, Indianapolis
  • 6154 N Keystone Ave, Indianapolis
  • 5662 Georgetown Rd, Indianapolis
  • 4400 S US Highway 41, Terre Haute
  • 2493 E Main St, Plainfield
  • 2000 Lafayette Ave, Terre Haute
  • 900 S Green River Rd, Evansville
  • 925 N Gospel St, Paoli
  • 626 S Main St, Leitchfield
  • 1306 N Main St, Beaver Dam
  • 647 S 2nd St, Central City
  • 3212 Highway 54, Owensboro
  • 197 Madison Square Dr, Madisonville
  • 2236 US Highway 41 N, Henderson
  • 514 S Commercial St, Harrisburg
  • 601 S Commercial St, Harrisburg
  • 318 W 9th St, Mount Carmel
  • 1408 W Main St, Robinson
  • 929 N Route 49, Casey
  • 1304 Avenue of Mid America, Effingham
  • 1607 S State Route 127, Greenville
  • 2737 Veterans Ave, Vandalia
  • 3202 S State Route 159, Glen Carbon
  • 510 N Webster St, Taylorville
  • 3150 S 6th St, Springfield
  • 9 Corvette Dr, Litchfield
  • 1305 Mercantile Dr, Highland
  • 1700 Vandalia St, Collinsville
  • 1717 W Highway 50, O Fallon
  • 6599 N Illinois St, Fairview Heights
  • 5 S Belt W, Belleville
  • 645 Carlyle Ave, Belleville

Rating and reporting happen in the app so submissions can be verified and moderated. Browse more on the restaurant map, or check packaged groceries with the product finder.