Why McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets come in only four shapes

Ever wonder why McDonald’s McNuggets are shaped the way they are?

Well, we did.

In a video produced by McDonald’s Canada that shows exactly how Chicken McNuggets are made, we learned that the nuggets come in four distinct shapes: The bell, the ball, the boot, and the bow tie (also called the bone). 

We went digging for the reasoning behind the shapes and here’s what we found.

The shapes are all the same width and they are “pressed out with a rolling cookie cutter,” according to McDonald’s Canada.

Here’s a picture of the nuggets after they have been formed. The bottom row is the bow tie, followed by a row of boots, then balls, and the bells: