Tyson Italian Style Chicken Breast Strips, Herb & Tomato — OKAY

Munch or Dump rates Tyson Italian Style Chicken Breast Strips, Herb & Tomato by Tyson OKAY — score 58/90.

Real white-meat chicken is the base, but it's dressed up with maltodextrin, yeast extract and natural flavor, plus a hefty 460mg sodium per serving.

Why this verdict

• Real chicken breast delivers 21g protein with almost no sugar or fat
• Maltodextrin, yeast extract and natural flavor are unnecessary processing additives
• High sodium (~460mg) per serving
• Cleaner than most processed meats, but not the whole food the label suggests

Ingredients (16)

• Boneless skinless chicken breast with rib meat (safe) — Genuine whole-muscle poultry and the real source of the product's protein.
• Water (safe) — Used as a basic ingredient in bread.
• CANOLA OIL (moderate) — Refined vegetable oil.
• Dried chicken broth (safe) — Flavor base from chicken; benign.
• dried garlic (safe) — Real garlic, dehydrated for shelf life.
• Dried parsley (safe) — Herb for flavour; negligible.
• Dried tomato (safe) — Real tomato for the 'tomato' flavor.
• dried vinegar (safe) — Acidity/flavor; harmless.
• Extractives of Paprika (safe) — Natural color and flavor from paprika — how it gets golden without dyes.
• Maltodextrin (moderate) — Highly processed starch-derived carbohydrate used as a carrier and texturizer; spikes blood sugar readily.
• Natural flavor (moderate) — Undisclosed flavor blend; minor but not fully transparent.
• olive oil (safe) — A real culinary fat, not a refined seed oil.
• rice starch (moderate) — Another refined starch adding to the carbohydrate base.
• Salt (moderate) — Used in moderation, might exceed necessary amount.
• Spices (safe) — Real seasoning — the flavor comes from spices, not additive flavor systems.
• YEAST EXTRACT (moderate) — A hidden source of free glutamate, stacked with MSG for umami.