Chicken tenders or strips, breaded: fast food vs school lunch USDA FDC 2706099 vs 2706101
Per 100 g, fast food reports 1.2 g dietary fiber, while school lunch reports 2.2 g dietary fiber.
The comparison uses two cited USDA records. Their complete source names, household portions, nutrient values, and FoodData Central links remain visible below.
Record A · FDC 2706099
Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food
Check this record in FoodData Central ↗Record B · FDC 2706101
Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch
Check this record in FoodData Central ↗Highlighted difference
Protein at the same 100-gram weight
Bar length shows the two cited values on one shared denominator. It does not rank either food or establish why they differ.
-
19.2 g -
15.7 g
Shared basis: 100 g · g
Equal-weight evidence
Nutrition per 100 grams
Both columns use the same mass, which compares nutrient concentration without allowing the two representative source amounts to change the denominator. “A +” or “B +” reports the arithmetic difference between the cited values; it is not a quality score.
On smaller screens, focus a comparison table and scroll horizontally to read every column.
| Nutrient | A · Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from… | B · Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from… | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 271 kcal | 270 kcal | A +1 kcal |
| ProteinMaterial difference | 19.2 g | 15.7 g | A +3.5 g |
| Total fat | 14 g | 12.9 g | A +1.1 g |
| CarbohydrateMaterial difference | 17.2 g | 22.9 g | B +5.7 g |
| Dietary fiberMaterial difference | 1.2 g | 2.2 g | B +1 g |
| Total sugars | 0.4 g | 0.5 g | B +0.1 g |
| SodiumMaterial difference | 769 mg | 511 mg | A +258 mg |
| Saturated fat | 2.5 g | 2.8 g | B +0.3 g |
| PotassiumMaterial difference | 373 mg | 231 mg | A +142 mg |
| Calcium | 17 mg | 32 mg | B +15 mg |
| Iron | 0.7 mg | 2 mg | B +1.3 mg |
Values come from the two cited USDA FoodData Central Survey Foods records. Feast does not average records, impute missing values, or infer a nutrient from the food name.
Read the table by question
The material primary-nutrient differences run in both directions: A is higher on 2, while B is higher on 2.
These answers describe concentration per 100 grams. “More” and “less” identify the arithmetic direction only; they do not decide which record is a better match or which food is better for a person.
Which reports fewer calories?
Record B
Record B reports 270 kcal, compared with 271 kcal in the other record—a difference of 1 kcal.
Which reports more protein?
Record A
Record A reports 19.2 g, compared with 15.7 g in the other record—a difference of 3.5 g.
Which reports more fiber?
Record B
Record B reports 2.2 g, compared with 1.2 g in the other record—a difference of 1 g.
Which reports less sodium?
Record B
Record B reports 511 mg, compared with 769 mg in the other record—a difference of 258 mg.
What differs in the source descriptions
The exact names carry information the numbers cannot.
USDA assigns both records to “Chicken patties, nuggets and tenders,” but the topic label is broad. Record A is “Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food.” Record B is “Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch.” Feast paired them because their contrast-neutral food identities are an exact match, not merely because they share a generic category.
The controlled name parser found 1 interpretable distinction. These labels organize wording already present in the names; they do not establish that a distinction caused a nutrient difference.
| Description dimension | Record A | Record B |
|---|---|---|
| Source context | restaurant or fast food | school |
Even a clean name contrast can carry hidden companions. A fried record may also include coating; a restaurant record can use a different recipe; a reduced-sodium description can differ in more than salt; and a source amount can reflect a different reporting convention. That is why this page reports the complete pair rather than treating one word as an intervention.
Portion context
A representative source amount is not a shared “serving.”
Record A uses USDA reference amount at 100 g. Record B uses USDA reference amount at 80 g. Those labels and gram weights come from their respective records. They are useful for scaling the chosen profile, but they are not recommendations and need not describe equal amounts.
The two representative amounts differ by 20 g (20% of the larger amount). This is why the main table holds mass at 100 g. After selecting the closer description, use its household measure or a gram estimate for the amount actually eaten.
A cup, piece, slice, sandwich, fillet, or fluid ounce can have different gram weights across records. A matching label is not enough: check the listed grams. If accuracy matters more than convenience, weighing the food or using a current package label can be more specific than a generic survey-food measure.
Record A measures
- 1 tender, strip, or finger50 g
- 1 popcorn chicken10 g
- 1 chicken fry14 g
- 1 cup140 g
- USDA reference amount100 g
Record B measures
- 1 tender or finger17 g
- 1 strip40 g
- 1 popcorn chicken10 g
- 1 cup140 g
- USDA reference amount80 g
One shared household label
1 cup: 140 g in A vs 140 g in B
Here the household label and listed gram weight match at displayed precision, so this particular table is also an equal-mass comparison. The values remain specific to these two source records, not a universal weight for every 1 cup.
| Nutrient | A · 140 g | B · 140 g |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 379 kcal | 378 kcal |
| Protein | 26.9 g | 22 g |
| Dietary fiber | 1.7 g | 3.1 g |
| Sodium | 1,077 mg | 715 mg |
USDA source formulation evidence
The listed inputs provide another way to audit the match.
FNDDS includes input-food rows behind each standardized survey-food record. Record A’s leading listed inputs include Fast foods, chicken tenders. Record B’s include School Lunch, chicken nuggets, whole grain breaded. Ingredient-code overlap is 0%, and normalized listed-input-weight variation is 100%.
Record A · 1 coded input
Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food
- Fast foods, chicken tendersIngredient code 21401100% of listed input weight
Record B · 1 coded input
Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch
- School Lunch, chicken nuggets, whole grain breadedIngredient code 21611100% of listed input weight
0 shared coded inputs
The two listed formulations do not share an ingredient code in this source extract. Shared codes can still carry different listed weights.
1 A-only and 1 B-only coded inputs
A-only entries include Fast foods, chicken tenders. B-only entries include School Lunch, chicken nuggets, whole grain breaded.
Important: repeated rows carrying the same ingredient code are combined before the shares and overlap are calculated. These weights belong to USDA’s source formulation: they are not a reconstructed plate, final cooked yield, visitor serving, ingredient declaration, or estimate of what is visible in a photo. USDA’s FNDDS documentation explains that these calculation recipes can represent multiple variants, may include retention or moisture adjustments, and are not product-label ingredient lists.
Choosing the closer record
Match context first; scale second.
- 01
Read both names literally
Compare cooking method, coating, edible skin or peel, sauce, additions, venue, source form, and food subtype. For this pair, the full A and B descriptions above are the evidence—not shortened search labels.
- 02
Use listed inputs as a check
If the name still leaves ambiguity, compare the leading and unique source inputs. They can reveal that two near names refer to meaningfully different standardized formulations, but they do not reconstruct your dish.
- 03
Choose an amount for that record
After choosing A or B, use its own named measure and gram weight. Do not transfer a cup, slice, or “typical amount” from the other record as if the measures were interchangeable.
- 04
Account for missing details
Brand, current restaurant recipe, cooking oil, drained weight, toppings, substitutions, and unfinished portions may not be captured. A label or weighed recipe can supersede a generic reference when it better matches the actual food.
Limits and responsible interpretation
This is a comparison of records, not a causal study.
The two records come from 2021–2023 FoodData Central Survey Foods data. The nutrient table faithfully compares their published values on the same weight basis. It does not measure two plates prepared at the same time, isolate one ingredient, or estimate the uncertainty around either value.
For this pair, the source names differ across 1 documented description dimension, while the listed formulations show 0% ingredient-code overlap and 100% normalized listed-weight variation. Moisture, ingredient proportions, preparation, and record construction can therefore move together. The page can describe the combined record difference; it cannot isolate the effect of one word.
A higher or lower number is not an overall verdict. Protein, fiber, sodium, energy, fat, micronutrients, preferences, allergies, budget, portion, and an individual’s goals answer different questions. Feast therefore reports directions and magnitudes without applying a universal “healthier” label.
This page is educational and does not diagnose a condition, prescribe a target, or replace advice from a qualified professional. For an allergy, medically directed diet, or strict ingredient limit, use verified ingredient information and guidance appropriate to that situation.
How this page qualified
A page is published only when the pair clears materiality and diversity gates.
Both records must occupy the same USDA survey-food topic and share a close food identity after a controlled vocabulary separates preparation, edible-part, source, claim, crust, and sauce wording. Exact contrast-neutral identities receive priority. Close ingredient or form substitutions can qualify when name overlap remains high and the numerical evidence is material.
For primary nutrients, Feast requires both an absolute and relative difference: at least 20 kcal and 12% for energy; 2 g and 18% for protein or fat; 5 g and 15% for carbohydrate; 1 g and 20% for fiber; 4 g and 20% for sugars; or 100 mg and 20% for sodium. A focused one-nutrient pair also needs a material representative-amount or formulation distinction. Rounding-only pairs are not published.
Unordered FDC IDs define a canonical pair, so reversing A and B cannot create another page. Each source record can appear twice at most, each USDA topic contributes no more than 40 pages, and closely repeated identity families are capped. Those rules produced a selective comparison library rather than every mathematical combination in the corpus.
Read the complete nutrition-page methodology for import, nutrient mapping, portion scaling, Daily Value, and uncertainty rules.
Decision support from the exact records on this page
Turn source data into a better next decision
These conclusions and reading paths are computed from 2 exact records behind Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food versus Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch. Links are chosen by record identity, controlled contrast, formulation input, nutrient spread, or serving context—not by loose keyword similarity.
Equal-weight result
Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food is higher in protein per 100 g
Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food reports 19.2 g versus 15.7 g for Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch: a 3.5 g difference when both are normalized to 100 g.
Inspect the underlying evidenceCheck the weight before comparing serving totals
Source amounts span 80–100 g
Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch uses USDA source amount (80 g), while Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food uses USDA source amount (100 g). Use per 100 g for equal-weight composition; use the serving column only when those named source amounts answer your question.
Record identity is part of the estimate
Distinguish “Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food” from “Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch”
These are separate USDA records with separate formulations or survey descriptions. Match preparation, additions, and the named household amount before borrowing either record’s nutrients.
Inspect the underlying evidenceContextual knowledge graph
Follow the relationship that matches your question
For Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food versus Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch, each path states why the destination belongs here, so you can distinguish a true evidentiary connection from a merely similar label.
Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food and Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch are explicitly linked in this guide, which separates direct name matches from contextual variants.
Follow this evidence path Put the observed spread in corpus context Protein: density and serving contextIn this page’s records, protein runs from 15.7 g in Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch to 19.2 g in Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food, all per 100 g.
Follow this evidence path Test a nearby record choice Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food vs Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from frozenChicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food is held as one side of the comparison. The explicit record-description contrast is Source form: No matching controlled term in the source name versus frozen; it is a selection cue, not evidence of cause.
Follow this evidence path Test a nearby record choice Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from restaurant vs Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunchChicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch is held as one side of the comparison. The explicit record-description contrast is Source context: restaurant or fast food versus school; it is a selection cue, not evidence of cause.
Follow this evidence path 2 context records in this source topic Chicken patties, nuggets and tendersChicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food and Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch belong to this USDA source-category collection. Its displayed ranges and complete exact-record catalog provide the peer set for a manual comparison; the destination does not preselect this page’s record.
Follow this evidence path Put the observed spread in corpus context Iron: density and serving contextIn this page’s records, iron runs from 0.7 mg in Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast food to 2 mg in Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from school lunch, all per 100 g.
Follow this evidence path Inspect an exact record Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from fast foodOpen the full nutrient table, household measures, formulation inputs, and FoodData Central 2706099 citation for this exact record—not a name-level average.
Follow this evidence path