By Jeremy Sollars
A new study has revealed the vast majority of tubs of leftover KFC potato and gravy put in the fridge to be consumed at an unspecified future time end up getting chucked out anyway.
Researchers at the University of Queensland have found some people only consume a small portion of the fluffy potato mash and gravy product with their KFC meal – typically dipping their chips into it – and afterwards store the leftover amount in the fridge.
“This is done in the belief they will consume it later, perhaps as part of another meal, as it comes in its own container and it seems like a bit of a waste to throw it out with the remains of their KFC meal, such as an Ultimate Box,” lead researcher Dr Paula Dangerfield told reporters.
“Of course, many people consume the entire tub at the main sitting, with the small red plastic spoon provided with KFC boxed meals, which also include a paper serviette and cleansing towel,” Dr Dangerfield said.
“But some KFC consumers prefer to dip their chips into the potato and gravy, at least those chips which are structurally sound enough to penetrate into the mixture, which despite being marketed by the takeaway giant as ‘soft and fluffy’, in reality has quite a firm consistency.
“These softer chips, unless pushed into the product with a fork (externally sourced), will generally crumple and effectively become another portion of potato mash.
“In any case, those people who dip their chips generally close the container after consuming the rest of the boxed meal and glance at it briefly, deciding it would be a waste to throw it out and that they might heat it up later on, possibly to eat with other takeaway chips or with dinner that evening.
“But for whatever reason – and despite noticing the partially-eaten container sitting in the fridge each time they subsequently open it – they end up throwing out the tub after a few days when they realise it’s probably not any good now.”
• KFC, until 1991 known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is an American fast food restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world’s second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald’s, with almost 20,000 locations globally in 123 countries and territories as of December 2015.
• The chain is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, a restaurant company that also owns the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains. (Source – Wikipedia).
