There was an article in LiveScience a couple weeks ago about William Poundstone's book Big Secrets. He performed a lab analysis and found KFC chicken to have just 4 ingredients: salt, pepper, msg, and flour.

The Pope's decision to classify beavers (and capybaras) as fish had less to do with their environment and everything to do with the Church's goal to collect souls. People weren't exactly lining up to convert. Asking them to give up their traditional foods wouldn't really lure them in.