Drawbacks of chicken feet include common preparation methods, overall cleanliness, and choking risks.

➖Trans Fats: Chicken feet are often served deep-fried, which may negate any of their potential benefits. Deep-fried foods are high in trans fatty acids (TFA), an unhealthy, unsaturated fat known to harm heart health.

Specifically, TFA may increase inflammation markers, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL (bad) cholesterol while decreasing HDL (good) cholesterol. In turn, this elevates your risk of atherosclerosis, or plaque buildup in your veins, and heart attacks. Furthermore, TFA is linked to an increased risk of prostate and breast cancers.

➖Cleanliness And Choking Hazards: When buying chicken feet, be sure to inspect them carefully. Those that appear dirty or have ammonia-burned skin indicate poor hygiene management. You should discard or avoid those with ammonia burns, which look like overgrown calluses and are often caused by the chicken standing on their own droppings.

If the feet you buy look unclean, thoroughly wash them to remove the dirt. Lastly, chicken feet consist of multiple small bones, which pose a choking hazard for both children and adults.