KFC's 11 Herbs and Spices

The secret KFC recipe dates back to the 1930s when Harland Sanders served chicken to people who stopped at his gas station in North Corbin, Kentucky. It was an amazing success. And while he never joined the military, in 1936, he was given the title of honorary Kentucky Colonel by the governor in recognition of his contribution to the state's cuisine.

Eventually, Sanders expanded his restaurant into a chain. While KFC has diversified its menu over the years, the main thing that sets the restaurant apart is still its special blend of 11 herbs and spices. And boy do they know it.

Who Knows:

As with Coke, only two executives have access to the recipe for KFC's 11 herbs and spices. Man, wouldn't it be weird if it was the same two guys?

How it is Kept Secret:

The recipe is at KFC's headquarters. But unless you are Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, you have no chance of getting it.

"We fortified the ceiling and the floor around here with concrete bricks two feet thick," Dietl said. "We put in motion sensors also CCTV that's hooked up to security downstairs. They have 24/7 armed guys downstairs, so in the amount of 30 seconds you'll have somebody up here. Once in here, you have to have two people with two keys and two different PIN numbers, and that's what you have to have. This safe is bolted down and there is no way anybody can get in here unauthorized without us knowing about it."

Holy. Fuck.

But will this be enough to thwart the hordes of people who are trying to steal the secret recipe? Just in case it's not, half of the ingredients are mixed at one location, half at another, and they are combined at a third.

This is chicken we're talking about. CHICKEN! Fast food chicken. See, we're going to share a little secret with you guys who're risking your lives to protect that recipe: no one eats at KFC because they have the best chicken in the world. People eat it because it's a pain in the ass to make at home and the line was too long at Popeye's.