6 Answers

not at our Taco Bell. The meat is still quality

LOL...Next time I want a thick juicy steak I'll eat at Taco Bell

Read up on the other 12% of ingredients added to Taco Bell ground beef.

What Taco Bell says vs. what they should really say.
1. MALTODEXTRIN

What Taco Bell Says: “It sounds weird, but it’s actually a form of mildly sweet sugar we use to balance the flavor. You may have had it the last time you had a natural soda”

The Truth: Maltodextrin is likely made from genetically modified corn and according to David Zinczenko, author of “Eat It to Beat It”, “like other sugars, maltodextrin has the potential to raise blood glucose and insulin levels.” GMO Compass explains that it is typically added to food as a filling and thickening agent. I want to know why they have to use maltodextrin to “balance the flavor” when they are already using sugar in the beef mixture in it’s pure form – seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it?

2. TORULA YEAST

What Taco Bell Says: “This is a form of yeast that gives our seasoned beef a more savory taste”

The Truth: This is hidden MSG. According to truthinlabeling.org and Dr. Mark Hyman in his new book “The 10 Day Detox Diet” – Torula Yeast can be a form of hidden glutamic acid – the main component in MSG that makes you crave an unforgettable taste and eat more than you should. Companies love using hidden forms of MSG like this ingredient that prevents them from actually saying “Monosodium Glutamate” on the label. So, while Taco Bell says they don’t use MSG: “Nope, None!” – I find this statement very misleading.

3. MODIFIED CORN STARCH

What Taco Bell Says: “Actually, it’s derived from corn, which is a food staple in Mexican culture as well as many others. We use a small amount as a thickener and to maintain moisture in our seasoned beef. It’s common in many foods like yogurt”

The Truth: Just because it’s “common” doesn’t mean that it’s good for you. Modified corn starch is a highly processed chemically-altered form of corn starch that is added to processed food as a cheap texturizing agent – and it’s not a natural ingredient that you would use in the kitchen. The corn that it’s derived from is likely GMO, as more than 90% of corn in the U.S. is genetically modified.

4. SOY LECITHIN

What Taco Bell Says: “When you prepare as much seasoned beef as we do, you don’t want it to separate. That’s what soy lecithin does. It helps (with moisture) to bind substances that would otherwise separate — like oil and water. It’s a common ingredient in many grocery staples, like chocolate bars and salad dressings”

The Truth: This super-cheap ingredient is made from soybean oil that was most likely extracted with the toxic chemical hexane. As described by The Cornucopia Institute, “Hexane is a byproduct of gasoline refining. It is a neurotoxin and a hazardous air pollutant…Whole soybeans are literally bathed in hexane to separate the soybeans’ oil from protein”. This is yet another ingredient that is likely derived from a GMO source – soybeans.

5. SODIUM PHOSPHATES

What Taco Bell Says: This is used “to help make sure our seasoned beef is the right texture…They’re also commonly found in deli items, cheeses, coffee drinks and desserts”

The Truth: Phosphates are added to many processed foods and a phosphate-rich diet can be detrimental to your health. Diets high in phosphates are linked to an increased risk of heart disease, bone loss, and leads to a rapid progression of kidney disease. Janeen Leon, MS, RD, LD, a researcher at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, reported the following:

“We’re finding that, even among healthy adults, people with phosphate levels at the higher end of what’s considered normal have higher mortality rates… Though there’s no hard evidence that high-phosphate diets cause kidney disease, there is sufficient data showing that phosphorous does cause a more rapid progression of the disease… Doctors are making comments like, Is this the next trans fat? Is this the next cholesterol?”

6. LACTIC ACID

What Taco Bell Says: “This safe acid occurs in almost all living things, and we use a very small amount to manage the acidity to get the right flavor.”

The Truth: This type of Lactic acid is created in a laboratory, and likely derived from GMO corn starch or sugar beets. As I avoid ingredients that are derived from GMOs, this is on my “Do Not Eat” list.

7. COCOA POWDER

Taco Bell says: “Cocoa Powder doesn’t add any flavor to our recipe, but it helps our seasoned beef maintain a rich color.”

The Truth: They use cocoa powder to make the beef more appealing to the eye to trick you to eat this less than stellar product. Their ingredient label reveals that their cocoa powder is processed with alkali, which essentially destroys most of its nutritional value. Plus, conventionally grown cocoa beans are one of the most heavily sprayed crops on the planet, often with pesticides that are banned in the U.S., making it essential to only consume organic and ethically grown cocoa. This begs the question: Why do they feel the need to color their “beef” brown anyway?

8. CARAMEL COLOR

What Taco Bell Says: The caramel color “is caramelized sugar, which is a commonly used food coloring (also found in cereals and pancake syrup)”

The Truth: There are four types of caramel coloring used by food manufacturers, and two of these are processed with ammonia. These two dangerous forms of caramel coloring are classified as III and IV, and they contain 4-methylimidazole, a chemical that has been shown to cause cancer. This type of caramel coloring is added to Pepsi and many other food products like some pancake syrups, so it is crucial that we find out which classification of caramel coloring Taco Bell uses. So, what type do they use?

Well, we don’t know. Taco Bell still won’t tell us.

As soon as the news broke last week, my team and I contacted Taco Bell. We called their customer service number, sent website contact forms, emails and Tweets. The representatives that we talked to at Taco Bell did not know what type of caramel coloring they used. So far – we received one response to a website contact form that we submitted – and as you can see, they haven’t answered our question:
http://foodbabe.com/2014/05/05/what-taco-bell-isnt-telling-us-about-their-ingredients-but-you-need-to-know/

A bean burrito is one of the simplest meals ever, but Taco Bell has processed it to death. Their bean burritos contain possible GMOs, preservatives made from butane (a very carcinogenic gas) called TBHQ, hidden MSG additives that trick your brain to remember and crave a flavor and other nasty processed food chemicals no one would cook with in their home!

... like popcorn and toast and those little saltine QUACKERS eh Ducklet? QUAAACKERS!!!

Yeah, yeah, that's it. :)

<3<3

I had those taco bell toy dogs in the 90s. And you'd pull a string and they'd talk

LOL Yes like a little Mexican! So cute!