US vs UK Popeyes | Food Wars

From calorie counts to portion sizes, we wanted to find out all the differences between Popeyes in the UK and the US. This is "Food Wars." Popeyes drink fountains come in three sizes. The small one, which weighs 22 ounces, the medium one, which weighs 30 ounces, and the large one, which of course weighs 40 ounces. 40 ounces. That's a lot of soda. In the UK, drinks only come in two sizes: kids size or regular size. We're not sure how much is in either of these, so we'll measure them both. A little over 300. About 450. But those aren't the biggest, I say! In fact, at Popeyes in the US, you can also get a gallon of sweet tea and unsweetened tea.

A whole gallon. Oh, look at this! Gallon, gallon. Oh, and don't hate when idiots do that thing where they say, "Hey, the medium is the same size as the large!" And it never is, it's a total scam, then. Medium soft drink, large cup. Wow, guys! The medium is about the same size as the large, except for, oh, I don't know, 10 ounces! Dumb TikTokers. You guys aren't even... TikTokers out of your league. I'm the king of online fast

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! Alright? When was it last cleaned? Ooh, I'm turning 36. What do you think? I mean, it could have been the amount to the top of this cup, but again, you can't fill this to the brim.

You have to set a limit. In the United Kingdom, French fries are served as a regular portion. In the US, we have two sizes of Popeyes fries, one regular and one large. The regular one, like the one we have here, comes with the side of the three piece that we have here and, of course, a large one, which is a box of just fries. Harry: Let's weigh them to see how they compare to the US. Joe: We, of course, are now also going to weigh our largest fry. Don't sleep on these fries. You will be surprised to know that the inside of this scale is disgusting.

A Popeyes chicken sandwich in the UK weighs exactly 250 grams. Joe: In the United States it weighs 270 grams. In the United States, Popeyes' signature chicken comes in seven servings. We'll start with these. So, of course, the one-piece kids meal, you can then upgrade to a regular two-piece meal, which comes with a side and a cookie, or you can buy the three-piece and the four-piece. Garnish and biscuit. From there, you can get an eight-piece family meal, the 12-piece meal for the family as well, or just for one person for a weekend, and the largest, the 16-piece meal. Are you kidding me?

How absurd is this? Look at all this chicken. In the UK, Signature Chicken comes in a two-piece plate, three-piece plate, six-piece plate, nine-piece plate or our largest size, the 12-piece chicken. Let's weigh a wing, a thigh and a leg to see whose chickens are bigger. So in the UK our thigh, leg and wing combination came in at around 290 grams. Here we go. The first to go up, the leg. The next step was that wing. Kind of weak looking. And this, the thigh. How about the tendies? In the US, we have the following sizes: A kid's meal has one piece, but what about?

They gave us two! And then from there you get a three-piece plate, which they forgot, and then we have five pieces, it comes with a side and a cookie, eight pieces. I feel like they are getting bigger as I go. Look at the size of this offer. Then we have the 12-piece one. I mean, guys, this is like... look at this! Did you know they are this big? This is fantastic. I love how big they are. That's what I'm talking about, Popeyes! Thank you. And, of course, the 16-piece one. Look at this bad boy. Look at the size of these guys.

The offerings in the UK come in four portion sizes, two pieces, which is the children's meal, three pieces, five pieces and eight pieces. Next are the nuggets. These can be found in four-piece kids' meal portions, six-piece kids' meals, eight-pieces, 12-pieces, 24-pieces, 36-pieces, and then this double stack here, the largest order, 48 pieces. And I have to say that it doesn't seem like enough. I know I could destroy that 48 piece weapon with confidence. What do we have here? Oh, look at this sticker! This is fun. Yeah, look at these guys! Look at this big guy playing the saxophone, how fun is that?

That's great, right? In the UK we call our nuggets bites and they come in the following sizes: there are four pieces, which is a kid's meal, six pieces, nine pieces and 12 pieces. Unfortunately we couldn't get them today. America, we have cookies, honey. These are the non-cookie cookies that have appeared before in other "Food Wars" episodes. These are the cookies and at Popeyes, you can get them on their own, or probably with almost every meal. You can also get them in six. It's kind of rolling down here. And you can also get them in 12. Just overflowing cookies around here.

In fact, we have cookies on the menu at Popeyes UK. If you order it as a side, you will receive a cookie. The biggest dish you can get on the Popeyes menu in the US is this one, the Bigger Family Feast. It comes with 12 pieces of chicken, five chicken sandwiches, two large sides, cole slaw and mashed potatoes, five cookies, and five apple pies. All of this will cost you about $60 and rack up 10,000 calories if you choose a higher-calorie side, like French fries. I did not. That far eclipses our largest item, which is this one, the 12-piece sharer.

You get 12 pieces of chicken, four regular sides, four biscuits and four drinks, all for the price of £24 95p, which was around $33.50 at the time of recording. Hmm. We are so bad at fried chicken in the UK. We just don't do it well. But I have to say that I feel like a certain Kentucky based chain has had a monopoly for too long and they have let their standards drop. So this is really good. I'm delighted that standards will hopefully be raised. And here you'll find everything you can find at a US Popeyes that you won't find in the UK.

And here are most of the things you'll find at a UK Popeyes that you won't find in the US. Let's start with the chicken. There are two main chicken options unique to the UK. Firstly, in the UK we can get a fancy chicken sandwich. It's just a Popeyes chicken sandwich, but there's cheese and lettuce here too. What it means is that they took a delicious chicken sandwich and added a bunch of junk

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to it. Deluxe means vegetables, aka the junk I don't want on my crispy chicken sandwich. Popeyes in the UK also sells hot wings.

These come in orders of three, five, eight, 12 or 20. Now, it may surprise some American viewers, but London in particular has a pretty big chicken shop culture and we're passionate about our hot wings, so let's see how they're doing. the height. No no no no no NO NO. Don't twist it. We are the country of wings and we should have them. I have no idea why we don't have them. To me, that's a really good chicken wing. Good level of spiciness, very crispy on the outside, very juicy on the inside, what more could you ask for? We only have one exclusive chicken item.

Well, technically it's not an item, it's more of a chicken style. In both the US and the UK, they have the spicy and the regular, but we also have something called blackened chicken. It's an unbreaded chicken option, so who cares? And it comes in the form of a sandwich or tenders. Here it is, blackened chicken. It's called fried chicken for a reason. Is this just grilled? Roasted chicken at Popeyes. What's the matter? Oh. No. In both the UK and US, Popeyes chicken sandwiches, fried chicken and chicken tenders are available as classic or spicy. An interesting fact is that someone at Popeyes told us that the British version of spicy chicken is actually spicier than in America, after they tried it on some focus groups and kept asking them to turn up the heat.

Who said the British can't stand spice, eh? Now, this is not exclusive because it is available in both countries. However, this is the first time I've tried an American-style cookie. Now, the obvious statement is that, to me, this just looks like a bun. The color is there, the shape is there, the kind of flaky layers are there. It even smells like a bun. And the fact that this is served with fried chicken to me and I think most Brits is really strange. Don't get me wrong, this is delicious, but I still have a hard time seeing the differences between this and a British bun.

Popeyes in the US not only serves chicken, they also have seafood, something you can't find at Popeyes in the UK. Now, American Popeyes had a Cajun flounder sandwich for a while, which is a deep-fried flounder fillet on a bun with some pickles and tartar sauce. At the time of recording this, it is no longer available. I don't know if it was a limited time thing or if they just stopped, they're taking a break, I don't know. But you can still get popcorn shrimp. That's all. And it comes in a quarter-pound serving. There are no seafood options in the UK, but we do have a vegan option that you don't have in the US, and it's the Creole Red Bean Sandwich.

This is a 100% plant-based red bean burger with some tomato, some lettuce, and a Creole sauce, but unfortunately we couldn't get one today. I will say that Popeyes' menu in the US doesn't seem very vegetarian friendly, so maybe if this takes off in the UK you guys can get it too. Whatever that is, 100% plant-based red bean cake...ugh. That will never touch American shores. That can stay in the UK. No one is going to Popeyes for anything vegetarian or vegan. It's a fried chicken place. Then no. We now have two sides that are unique to the United States.

Red beans and rice. Grr! Oh, do we have a bad boy? A little thing? Didn't they give us cutlery? Mystery spoon from somewhere in the office, okay. Red beans and rice, there it is. And coleslaw. We only have one exclusive side in the UK: onion rings. These are coated with buttermilk, similar to chicken. Unfortunately, we couldn't get them today either. I have a bunch of sauces in front of me, and you know what that means! It's: Salsa talk. We have tartar sauce. Creole cocktail sauce. Creole is a type of cuisine in Louisiana. Blackened ranch. Do you think this was for the blackened chicken?

And of course we have regular buttermilk ranch. Well, we already know what the ranch is. Rancher. Blackened ranch. Oh, that's much better. The sweet heat. I had this before with the specials, I can confirm, fantastic sauce. Wild Honey Mustard with Bayou Buffalo Sauce. In the UK, we have the following signature sauces: We have this Voodoo Sweet Chilli Sauce, which might be quite similar to the US Sweet Chilli Sauce. Then we have garlic mayonnaise and mango habanero salsa, which sounds really good. It's not exclusive, but it is a recognition of the Mardi Gras mustard, because this slaps.

Now, it's not exactly an exclusive, but it's worth mentioning. Musician Megan Thee Stallion recently released a collaboration with Popeyes and released Hottie Sauce. You can get it as an accompaniment to salsa or add it beforehand to your chicken sandwich. Or if you're in the UK, you can dip a hot wing in hot sauce and enjoy a hot wing summer. She is also becoming a Popeyes franchisee, as she will soon open her own Popeyes. And below this, she says: "Need 'WAP' content here, open to ideas." I guess she was the one who made the song "WAP"? I don't know who this person is.

I've never heard "WAP." I only know it as a reference on the internet. And I'm going to enjoy the glory that only some my age can have, of having no idea what a popular thing is. Oh. Desserts! This is a cinnamon apple pie. Oh Lord . That? And... phew! Chocolate chip cookies. Were you with Paul Davis, Pete Davidson for a while? Was that it? We have our own exclusive dessert option, which is ice cream sundaes. Now, these are available in the following flavors: vanilla, chocolate, caramel, with Oreos or with Lotus Biscoff. You can also pay an extra 50p to add small pieces of Oreo or Biscoff to any of these sundaes.

If you've watched "Food Wars" long enough, you know that I really don't like Biscoff, and I know that's a very controversial opinion, so don't call me out on it, please. Alright, before you saw those big gallons of tea. There was sweet tea and unsweetened tea. Very pretty. We also have a premium lemonade. That's this here. I've been drinking because this chicken is getting to me. They also have premium strawberry lemonade, and they also have this here, Hawaiian Punch. Don't you know what Hawaiian punch is? It's fruit punch. Oh yes, all good things are deep down. And ginger ale.

Ugh, suddenly my head hurts. We have a range of UK exclusive drinks, some hot and some cold. We'll start with hot drinks. It wouldn't be a British fast food menu unless you could have a cup of tea. Then we have a variety of hot coffees, including a cappuccino, aAmericano, a flat white and a café con leche. We then moved on to cold drinks, including some bottled options such as Oasis Summer Fruits, Sparkling Water, and Orange Capri Sun. Of all the linguistic differences between the US and the UK, this might be the one that bothers me the most.

We pronounce this CAP-ri Sol. It is pronounced Cap-RI Sun. You are putting emphasis on the completely wrong part of the word. Do it well. In the UK you can also get a range of handmade milkshakes, which unfortunately we couldn't get today. When available, you can get them in flavors similar to sundaes. They are available in Biscoff, Oreo, vanilla, chocolate, caramel or even strawberry format. And just like sundaes, you can pay an extra 50p for an extra topping of Biscoff or Oreo. Popeyes UK Chicken Sandwich contains the following. If you buy the chicken sandwich at a Popeyes in the US, it contains this.

What if you made it as food? If you add the regular serving of Popeyes Cajun Fries, you will be adding the following. A side dish of French fries in the UK contains the following. Fagot! Add this medium Coke to the mix and you'll add 368 calories, 99 carbs, all of them sugar, and 88 milligrams of sodium. And a regular Coke in the UK adds 180 calories, zero grams of fat or saturated fat, 45.6 grams of carbohydrates, all of which are sugars, and zero sodium. And what is the total of this American food? 1,335 calories, 56 grams of total fat, 19 of those grams are saturated fat, 182 grams of carbohydrates, 106.5 of those grams of sugar, and 2,118 milligrams of sodium.

I. The UK total: 1,300 calories, 63.7 grams of fat, of which 20.4 grams are saturated, 135.4 grams of carbohydrates, of which 54.8 grams are sugars, and 1,160 milligrams of sodium. Obviously the sugar stats here look bad, but in Popeyes' defense, most of the sugar comes from these 30 ounces of Coca-Cola. Now, if you bought a sugar-free soft drink instead, the figure would be much lower. However, the food contains 95% of your daily saturated fat and 92% of your daily sodium. Perhaps surprisingly, it appears that total fat and saturated fat are actually higher in the UK than in the US. This meal will consume a little more than 100% of your daily amount of saturated fat.

However, the sodium content is much higher here than in the UK. The biggest difference comes in the chicken sandwich. This type here, for some reason, has 260% more sodium than the one in the UK. Unfortunately, Popeyes has not disclosed a full list of ingredients in the US, only allergens. It's a similar deal in the UK. Popeyes does not disclose a full list of ingredients, only allergens. The only surprising thing we discovered in the US is that there is fish present in beans and rice. But what else do we know about Popeyes food? Ah! Well, for one thing, on the website there's a list of a slightly vague commitment to remove all artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives from their fried chicken by the end of 2022.

So, that's this year, guys. Better get to work. They also want to remove all MSG from their chicken by the end of this year. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but that implies that they are currently using MSG in chicken. But they have not specified how much or to which chicken dishes they add monosodium glutamate. They also want to only use eggs from cage-raised hens by the end of 2025. Take your time guys, jeez. Also, cage-free "eggs"? What happens to the chickens? One interesting thing is that in the UK, Popeyes has committed to making all of its chicken halal, meaning it is suitable for consumption by Muslims.

Popeyes UK also uses Red Tractor secured chicken. This is an agricultural standards board that oversees poultry farming in the UK. To be safe with Red Tractor, you cannot do things like wash your chicken with bleach or use antibiotics on your chicken unless it is approved by a veterinarian to treat a specific disease. Red Tractor doesn't exist in the US, but Popeyes says it uses chicken with no added hormones or steroids. There is a commitment on the Popeyes website to eliminate antibiotics from their chicken by the end of 2021. So that's right around the corner at the time of recording this, we reached out to them to find out what was happening and we They said X, which is code for nothing.

Red Tractor certification also means that chickens must be kept in safe, comfortable, hygienic and sufficiently sized housing; receive a complete and healthy diet; and have permanent access to environmental enrichment appropriate to their needs. Again, we don't have Red Tractor in the US, but Popeyes says it wants to, quote, "promote practices that support and address the five globally recognized animal welfare freedoms," end quote. These principles broadly align with Red Tractor's guarantees, which are: freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury and illness, freedom to express normal and natural behaviors, such as adapting to chicken instincts. of sleep, and freedom from fear and anguish.

I don't even have those freedoms! I'm terrified all the time! So it seems like they're aiming for equivalent standards, even if they don't have a nice Red Tractor badge or whatever to show they've achieved it. Now, obviously Popeyes is a fast food chain from Louisiana. Joe asked me to try to find Louisiana on a map. I don't know much about American geography. I can tell you where California is, where Texas is, where Florida is. I think New York is somewhere around here. If I had to guess where Louisiana was, I'd say it's the south, right? It's the South.

Maybe... it's like this? Maybe that one over there. ♪ "Wars" in this house ♪ There are "Food Wars" in this house "Wars" in this house There are "Food Wars" in this house ♪