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Man who brought KFC to UK says it’s ‘dreadful’

AAP

AAP

One of the people who introduced Colonel Sanders’ secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices doesn’t want to eat KFC ever again, labelling it “dreadful”.

Raymond Allen claimed he was a personal friend of “the Colonel” and introduced KFC to Britain, but according to The Telegraph, the 87-year-old said the company had strayed so far from its original concept that it has been “ruined”.

“We have got one where I now live, but I would not go in there. I don’t use it and I think it is dreadful,” Mr Allen told The Telegraph.

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“The company has ruined the product.

KFC has come a long way since the chicken bucket.

KFC has come a long way since the chicken bucket. Photo: AAP

“Instead of staying with one good thing that was sellable, they have tried to compete with the other fast food units. They should have just stuck with the chicken.”

Mr Allen would not comment on whether the chicken still tasted the same as 50 years ago when he first met Harland Sanders, but his wife Shirley said the couple had visited a local KFC about one year ago.

“We had the traditional original chicken but there were so many different products it was difficult to know what to order. I don’t think we will go back,” she said.

Mr Allen still has a personal, handwritten copy of the secret recipe, which he said he had locked in a safe.

“I have no idea how much it is worth but I would never sell it.”

The couple sold their business in 1973 after working hard to make it a success in the UK.

“It was slow to catch on at first because people didn’t know what it was,” Mr Allen said.

“In the UK in those days chicken was something you ate for Sunday dinner. It was way before its time and we had to give it away to passers-by initially.

“We would only use fresh chickens, and they had to be two and a half pounds in weight. It was initially difficult to source the chickens because of the demand.”

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