Dave’s Hot Chicken Soars to Billions, But Is Fried Chicken Fueling America’s Health Crisis?
A recent Wall Street Journal article, titled “America’s Hottest Chicken Chain Started with $900 and Just Sold for $1 Billion,” chronicles the meteoric rise of Dave’s Hot Chicken from a $900 parking lot pop-up in 2017 to a $1 billion acquisition by Roark Capital in June 2025. This story of four high school dropouts building a global chain with over 300 locations exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit. Yet, beyond the financial triumph, the fast-food chicken industry, led by chains like Dave’s, plays a significant role in America’s chronic disease crisis, affecting nearly 40 percent of Americans.
A Billion-Dollar Success Story
Dave’s Hot Chicken began in East Hollywood, California, founded by four friends with just $900. By 2025, it’d grown to over 300 locations worldwide, with systemwide sales of $600 million in 2024, projected to reach $1.2 billion in 2025—a 57% year-over-year increase. Celebrity investors like Drake, Samuel L. Jackson, and Usher, along with a trendy Nashville-style hot chicken menu, fueled its rise in the “Chicken Sandwich Wars.”
The Chronic Disease Crisis
While Dave’s financial success is undeniable, is this a success? I raised similar questions in the Vanderbilt university transplant center sets world record for heart transplants (article). The broader impact of the fast-food chicken industry raises concerns. Most don’t realize that the chicken industry is intricately connected to making America less healthy and a one-way road to chronic disease. Conditions including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis, contribute significantly to healthcare costs and mortality, with 90% of the U.S.’s $4.5 trillion healthcare spending tied to chronic and mental health conditions. This is where the medical and pharma industries, cash in from America’s chronic disease epidemic, by profiting from the treatment and mediatization of these conditions.
Approximately 129–133 million Americans—60% of adults—live with at least one chronic disease, such as heart disease, diabetes, or hypertension, with 40% managing two or more, according to the CDC. These conditions account for 90% of the healthcare spending. Recently, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. highlighted America’s health crisis, noting that dietary patterns, including heavy fast-food consumption, contribute to the nation’s status as one of the sickest developed countries.
How Fast-Food Chicken Fuels Chronic Disease
America has a fast-food chicken addiction. Chicken is cheap, and its affordability and popularity amplify its impact. Since overtaking beef as the most consumed meat in the U.S. in 2010, chicken has become a fast-food staple, especially in lower-income communities. Chains like Chick-fil-A ($21.5 billion in 2023 U.S. sales), KFC, Popeyes, McDonald’s and Dave’s drive this trend, capitalizing on demand while contributing to dietary patterns linked to chronic illness.
Fast food, particularly fried chicken, is high in saturated fats, sodium, and calories, contributing to obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. Make no mistake that these companies hire scientists to flavor the food to make it as addictive as possible.
A typical Dave’s Hot Chicken meal—tenders, fries, and sauce—easily exceeds 1,000 calories and delivers high sodium levels, posing health risks when consumed regularly. The sauces, laden with preservatives to remain shelf-stable for months, may disrupt insulin and glucose metabolism. Moreover, most fast-food chicken is fried in seed oils, which can degrade into harmful compounds when reused, further exacerbating health risks. See my article about seed oils here.
The Scale of Chicken Consumption: A Global Phenomenon
The fast-food industry’s reliance on chicken is staggering. Globally, approximately 75 billion chickens are slaughtered annually for meat, equivalent to about 206 million per day. While exact figures for fast food are scarce, chains like KFC may account for 850 million to 1 billion chickens yearly (2.3–2.7 million daily). Conservatively, fast food accounts for 20–30% of global chicken production, equivalent to 40–60 million chickens per day. In the U.S., 9.5 billion chickens are killed annually (26 million daily), with fast food likely accounting for 8–13 million daily, equating to processing about 150 to 200 chickens per minute. Like supermarkets, this is a truly unique phenomenon that has only emerged in this century.
The Hidden Cost of Factory-Farmed Chicken
The chickens fueling chains like Dave’s are not natural birds, but genetically modified hybrids bred for rapid growth. For a treatise about natural v. hybrid chickens, read: Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World. The top five processors (Tyson, Pilgrim’s, Wayne-Sanderson, Perdue, Koch) control about 60% of the U.S. chicken market. These companies specialize in fabricating (as opposed to nature farm-raised) modern broiler chickens that reach 6.2 pounds in seven weeks—twice as fast as their ancestors, who took 12–20 weeks. These birds, fed diets of GMO corn and soybeans, produce meat with lower nutritional value, thinner eggshells, and pale yolks compared to pasture-raised chickens. Their unnatural growth leads to health issues, including reduced fertility, mirroring concerns about human health tied to poor diets. The phrase “you are what your eats, eats” rings true: the nutritional quality of chicken depends on its feed and rate of growth, which are anything but normal in factory farms. Chicken meat is nutrient-poor, as it falls short in iron, zinc, B12, and omega-3 fatty acids compared to beef, pork, or fish. The ever-growing concern of antibiotic resistance is real, as most factory-farmed chickens are fed antibiotics just so they can coexist wing to wing, in close proximity inside artificially lit buildings, often never seeing the light of day.
Philosophically speaking, every time we go against nature, we ultimately harm ourselves. It’s as if your right hand were to fight your left hand or your right foot was to stand on your left foot. Both sides lose, and instead of being creative and alive, you are locked in conflict. This is the state of most people worldwide: dead, untreated, stuck because they are locked in conflict with nature, attempting to improve themselves by going against what their nature demands. If you fight her, she will eventually destroy you. In Dante’s Inferno, this was God’s biggest complaint against humans.
What Do We Do from Here?
Dave’s Hot Chicken’s billion-dollar success highlights a stark paradox: a thriving fast-food industry, driven by America’s love for affordable, flavorful chicken, is exacerbating a chronic disease crisis affecting hundreds of millions of people. The accessibility of fried chicken from chains like Dave’s, KFC, and Chick-fil-A—fueled by processors like Tyson Foods slaughtering 8–13 million chickens daily in the U.S.—promotes dietary patterns high in sodium, saturated fats, and calories. These contribute to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, particularly in lower-income communities where fast food is often the most affordable option. To address this crisis, we must act on multiple fronts:
Consumer Empowerment: Public education campaigns should highlight the risks associated with frequent fast-food consumption, emphasizing the importance of balanced diets rich in nutrient-dense foods, such as vegetables and lean proteins. Tools like Yuka, a MAHA-friendly food scanning app, allow users to scan food product barcodes to receive a score (1–100) based on nutritional quality, additives, and organic status. Launched in France in 2017 and in the U.S. in 2020, it has 68 million users globally and ranks among the top health and fitness apps.
Industry Accountability: Fast-food giants, including Dave’s, must innovate beyond fried tenders and preservative-filled, high-sodium sauces. Offering grilled chicken, plant-based sides, or low-calorie options—without compromising the bold flavors that draw customers—could shift the industry toward healthier menus. Transparency, such as detailed nutritional labeling on menus, is critical.
Policy and Systemic Change: Policymakers should prioritize access to affordable, nutritious food in underserved areas, reducing reliance on fast food by offering subsidies for fresh produce or promoting community markets. Robust public health campaigns, backed by clear nutrition labeling laws, can raise awareness of chronic disease risks. Tax incentives for restaurants adopting healthier practices could further drive change.
Farm-to-Table: By choosing where to spend your money, you can drive change within a system. Whenever possible, spend the extra money and buy farm raised chickens like those from Polyface farms or other regenerative farms. It costs a little more, but you’ll save it on your health while doing something positive for society.
Conclusion
Dave’s Hot Chicken’s rise from a $900 East Hollywood pop-up to a $1 billion empire is a testament to entrepreneurial grit and America’s insatiable appetite for fast food. Yet, this triumph comes at a heavy cost: our health. Only by confronting this paradox can we forge a future where culinary innovation and public wellness thrive together, ensuring that success doesn’t come at the expense of our health.