Kids Favourites Chicken McNuggets and Happy Meal Toys

>> NAOMI: So we’re in London, Ontario.
We went to the Sun Valley Chicken Factory.
>> CORINNE: They process all the chicken for McDonald’s Canada.
>> BOBBY HARRIS: We take in approximately 85,000 to 100,000 birds a day.
We have a feed program that guarantees nutrition and health.
McDonald’s has such strict standards on the welfare of the bird
and how we raise them.
From an animal welfare and a nutrition status,
it’s industry best.
>> ALI: I was a bit nervous about seeing the chicken,
but we were fully prepared,
and we got to see the whole process --
from the live chicken to McNugget.
And I have to say, I found it completely fascinating.
>> CORINNE: Live chickens arrive and they are put on the line.
>> LAURA: They actually submerge them into
a water solution that stuns them for a minute.
So humanely, very impressed.
>> BOBBY: The next one is the cavity inspection.
We’re doing a full cavity wash inside and outside.
And that’s to get the bird as clean as we possibly can.
>> LAURA: They’re constantly double-checking
for safety issues and food quality,
when it comes to the actual chicken itself.
>> CORINNE: I was amazed. It was a really natural process
>> ALI: I think it’s amazing. This is so cool!
>> ALI: It didn’t make me squeamish at all.
It was really cool, really clean, really efficient, really quick.
>> LAURA: Their accuracy with food quality,
safety, animal welfare --
they had all checks from me.
>> TONY: Hi!
How’s everybody doing?
>> CORINNE: He loves his job.
>> DAVE JOHNSON: Ahh, Tony’s great.
He’s been here over 20 years.
>> CORINNE: Then we also saw the boning process,
where all the meat is removed from the carcass of the chicken.
>> DAVE: So this is our boning room.
As the birds go down the line,
people are performing a series of cuts.
>> BOBBY: How they identify and feel as they bring the meat off,
very critical at this point.
>> DAVE: They’re extremely skilled not only at sharpening the knife,
but at doing their cut, and at looking for bones.
>> CORINNE: It’s really amazing.
>> DAVE: It is, isn’t it?
>> CORINNE: They’re like artists,
they don’t even need to look at it
>> DAVE: So this is our X-ray system.
We’ll go through two X-rays.
We’re going to take that meat.
We’re going run through it again and again,
so every piece of breast meat gets six passes.
The last pass is always clean, with no bones.
And then it carries on.
>> DAVE: So this is the reject gate here,
you’ll find bones as small as that.
>> ALI: Oh wow!
>> CORINNE: The line that we followed in detail today
was the chicken nugget line.
>> DAVE: McNuggets account for over 40% of our finished volume.
It is our flagship product.
>> DAVE: So this is the forming machine.
We actually have names for the shapes.
I’m going to test you on this later.
>> LAURA: I had no idea that they had different names.
>> KATHY: They have four nugget shapes.
>> LAURA: Bell.
>> KATHY: Bow.
>> LAURA: Bowtie.
>> KATHY: Ball.
>> LAURA: I always forget the last one.
>> NAOMI: And boot!
>> BOBBY: Any guess on how many nuggets we make a day?
Two million. Two million nuggets a day.
>> ALI: That’s insane.
It’s starting to make me hungry.
>> CORINNE: I think what really amazed me today
is the fact that every piece of raw material chicken
is X-rayed six times for bones.
That quality control is unbelievable.
>> KATHY: What impressed me the most is, first of all,
the staff, the knowledge,
the dedication towards the job.
>> CORINNE: Bridgette, the lady in charge of quality control
actually summed it up quite nicely today:
that they are continuously working to improve their processes and,
in turn, improve the final product delivered to McDonald’s Canada.
>> LAURA: We’re on the last day of our McDonald’s trip
and we just left Buffalo, New York --
the McDonald’s toy facility.
>> ALI: Pretty much every single thing that you can think of,
plus a thousand other things, were tested.
>> LAURA: They do scraping tests for lead.
They drop the toys,
throw the toys, bend the toys,
pull the toys.
>> CORINNE: They look at the design to see if there are sharp points,
shapes that aren’t appropriate.
They recommend right away, at design,
that those be changed.
>>LAURA: They actually have a tool that simulates biting,
which was quite impressive.
So I think they’ve covered all the bases when it comes to toy safety.
Actually, I think they’ve gone above and beyond in ensuring toy safety,
to be honest.
>> ALI: I appreciate that McDonald’s isn’t just about food quality,
it’s also about toy quality
and they really care about what my children are bringing home
into my house.
>> KATHY: Mothers should take no concern
when their kids are playing with McDonald’s toys
that the kids love to get in their Happy Meals.
I mean, that’s part of the reason why they want a Happy Meal –
it’s for the toy.
>> CORINNE: End of trip number 3.
Once again, McDonald’s has gone above and beyond all our expectations.
>> KATHY: And we’re heading home today on Friday
and got a lot to write about.
>> ALI: This one was pretty jammed packed with all sorts of amazing things.
>> LAURA: We’re at the airport heading home
after a rigourous few days of investigations.
It’s me, Laura,
reporting for the McDonald’s Moms Quality Correspondents.
Another great trip of investigations,
but the best part is going home
and telling everyone everything we learned
and getting more questions for next time.
So thank you, McDonald’s.