Chicken McNuggets Have Code Names for their Four Nugget Shapes

Is there any more random a foodstuff than chicken McNuggets?

Those little deep fried morsels of white meat have always been suspected to have their origins from chicken offal, or at least the chicken scraps no one else wanted, and were never perceived to involve that much forethought or planning in execution.

Turns out, we were wrong. Those golden chicken morsels dipped in that classic sweet and sour sauce actually have a sort of meat equivalent of The Golden Ratio behind them. Writers from Business Insider discovered that every single Chicken McNugget in the box is perfected and standardized right down to the shape of the nugget.

During quality assurance testing at McDonald's Headquarters, the restaurant chain actually flies in chicken experts from its suppliers to evaluate the chicken quality. Apparently, Chicken McNuggets are required to be four distinct shapes in order to meet the "Gold Standard" of quality (We seriously didn't know McDonald's had one) before they get into the box and reach your mouth.

In a bizarre twist, these shapes have names, which is perfect if you want to play "Name that Nugget" in the drive-thru. It's kind of like seeing animals and other shapes in the clouds, but this time they're on your table.

There's The Bell, which carries the shape of a miniature version of The Liberty Bell, The Boot, which looks like a big cowboy boot or, if you're a little more cultured, the shape of Italy. Then there's the Ball, which is no doubt the easiest shape for the pimply-faced kids behind the counter to nail down and finally, The Bone, which is actually called The Bow-tie in Canada, but of course, this particular nugget shape looks like neither a bone or a bow-tie and is perhaps the furthest away from looking like its actual name.

Of course, Chicken McNuggets aren't always up to this required "Gold Standard", as many nuggets we've all received look nothing like these shapes. Sometimes it's a good thing, such as when you get the two-chambered nugget, which gives you double the meat in a single nugget, but, just as often, they come across the counter cold and soft when they're undercooked by the staff.

Those aren't perfect McNuggets at all, but the fast food chain insists they test more than just shape to make sure its McNuggets are exactly what you remember from your Happy Meal. The famous chain evaluates flavour, color, coating breading texture, meat texture, bite firmness and a further exhaustive list of criteria.

Strangely thorough, who knew that the madness of the McNugget mattered so much? Think about it the next time you order.