>>I think just reading this upset my stomach.

>>I wonder what would have happened if I ever ate a Taco Bell taco...

>>And you thought "mystery meat" in the hospital cafeteria was bad....

>>

http://gizmodo.com/5742413/this-is-what ... bells-beef

Taco Bell "beef" pseudo-Mexican delicacies are not made with USDA ground beef. They use a gross thing called "Taco Meat Filling" as shown on their big container's labels—which customers can't see. The list of ingredients is gruesome:

Water, isolated oat product, salt, chili pepper, onion powder, tomato powder, oats (wheat), soy lecithin, sugar, spices, maltodextrin (a polysaccharide that is absorbed as glucose), soybean oil (anti-dusting agent), garlic powder, autolyzed yeast extract, citric acid, caramel color, cocoa powder, silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent), natural flavors, yeast, modified corn starch, natural smoke flavor, salt, sodium phosphate, less than 2% of beef broth, potassium phosphate, and potassium lactate.

All that plus 36% beef. Thirty-six percent—plus all the above making up for the other 64% of the party in your mouth.

According to the USDA, they can't call their mixture "beef" at all. Beef is defined by the USDA as "flesh of cattle", and ground beef is defined as:

Chopped fresh and/or frozen beef with or without seasoning and without the addition of beef fat as such, shall not contain more than 30 percent fat, and shall not contain added water, phosphates, binders, or extenders.

Which is certainly nothing like the mix that Taco Bell is using in their products. That's the reason why an Alabama law firm is presenting a lawsuit for false advertising, claiming that what Taco Bell claims is "beef" in their commercials is just the aforementioned processed clustermass of disgust. It seems that they have a very good point.

The fact is that the containers in which the taco meatmud arrives to their establishments is labeled as "taco meat filling," which is exactly how it should be labeled in all advertising and packaging according to the USDA. Of course, the All-New Double Decker with Two Times More Taco Meat Filling will not sound very good on TV.

The irony is that not even if Taco Bell used Taco Meat Filling in their packaging and ads they would be right: The USDA says that any food labeled as "meat taco filling" should at least have 40% fresh meat. According to the Alabama law firm, their stuff only has 36% meat. Perhaps they should call it Almost Taco Meat Filling.

http://gizmodo.com/5742413/this-is-what ... bells-beef

Yes, this is true, it ain't beef. If they skip the beef, add textured soy, and their taco filling could qualify as a vegetarian product. But they must do something right. In spite of their filling, Taco Bell has more consistent "A" ratings ( for cleanliness and proper food handling) from health departments than any other fast food chain in the nation. Go figure?!!!

What I really dislike is the word.."plucks"..Check it's definition...Beware of anything containing it...We used to ship it overseas in container loads, theoretically to overseas places where it was processed into dogfood... I think not...Taco pluck filling, anyone? Hehe. It rhymes with yuck and other bad words...Apropos...dragonfly

And Taco Bell is one of the better places.

Sense I rarely eat out, I don't like fast food, I eat my own cooking, which is something I love to do. I don't like packaged stuff, so I tend to make things from scratch. Now with eating healthy, no preprocessed foods, and a no fast food diet,

WHY AM I 250 LBS?

The only thing I can say is I am a good cook and love my own food, lots of it.

sigh,

Maybe a bean a cheese burrito, NO MEAT.

River

Riverwind (imported) wrote: Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:13 pm WHY AM I 250 LBS?

The only thing I can say is I am a good cook and love my own food, lots of it.

sigh,

Maybe a bean a cheese burrito, NO MEAT.

River

Nah dude. i used to have the same problem. but it was 205 not 250. and its the same reason most vegetarians i know are fat. CARBS. they are sooooooo tasty but ultimately your sworn enemy. and its not even sugar like youd expect. its those evil complex carbs. That warm freshly baked bread, the pasta you had with that delicious chicken parm. its a shame. everything that tastes good is bad for you. now im depressed just thinking about it

I am sorry but this is a bunch of bull. I am no huge fan of fast food franchises as a regular source of our daily food. But this is pure disinformation. I cook for a living. I know ingredients. That is actually a fairly healthy list.

Dave (imported) wrote: Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:26 am The list of ingredients is gruesome:

Water, isolated oat product, salt, chili pepper, onion powder, tomato powder, oats (wheat), soy lecithin, sugar, spices, maltodextrin (a polysaccharide that is absorbed as glucose), soybean oil (anti-dusting agent), garlic powder, autolyzed yeast extract, citric acid, caramel color, cocoa powder, silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent), natural flavors, yeast, modified corn starch, natural smoke flavor, salt, sodium phosphate, less than 2% of beef broth, potassium phosphate, and potassium lactate.

Almost all meat products have water added. I brine pork and chicken regularly to increase the moisture in the meat. During the depression your grandmother added quite a bit of oats to hamburger to stretch it out. (you're paying 99cents remember) and it's actually healthier with the oat products instead of all meat. Lecithin is a common compound naturally occuring in a vast array of foods. Maltodextrin is just another sugar derived from starch, usually corn in the US and wheat in Europe. Autolyzed yeast extract occurs nuturally in soy sauce. Caramel color is sugar and water browned in a skillet. Silicon dioxide is what keeps your salt shaking in your shaker. (read the ingredients on a can of Morton's salt.) Sodium phosphate is used as a meat preservative, as an alternative to sodium nitrite. Plus a couple of naturally occuring preservatives.

No this is not organic health food. I doubt that very many people pursuing an organic health food diet are eating at Taco Bell. But nothing in the ingredient list qualifies as gruesome. It is quite benign compared to the ingredient list of most frozen pizzas. And check the nutrition info on the chains website. A taco is better for you than a cheeseburger.

Transward

I guess it comes down to what you want to eat,

for a meatloaf those ingredents added are fine, I add rice to my meatloaf as well as oats, that's what you do with them but if I am having a hamburger, I don't want that in my burger, then again I want some more fat in it then I would for the hamburger I use for the meatloaf.

If I make Taco's I want a good grade of hamburger, no additives, some cilantro and lemon juice.

River

I am a professional cook. Of course you can make a better taco filling with all meat. However I challenge you, with ground beef wholesaling at close to $2/ pound, to make a taco filling that you can sell for 99 cents, with enough profit margin to buy equipment, pay taxes, pay salaries, pay rent, pay more taxes, pay insurance. I think you get the point. And Taco Bell is hardly unique. The sausage on your pizza, the meat in canned chili all have similar make up to the taco filling. I go with a vegetarian friend to a nearby vegan noodle shop, which has a good reputation among the local health food crowd. They have a variety of Asian noodle dishes with meat analogues, which are pretty much the same thing as the Taco Bell Beef Taco filling minus the beef. They are quite tasty, (the real thing is better). They are certainly not gruesome.

You have no idea how many professional chefs, after cooking gourmet food for 10 hours and getting off at 2 in the morning, end up at the Taco Bell drive through for their dinner. A number of us are Taco Bell fans. (our dirty little secret)

Transward

transward (imported) wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:56 am You have no idea how many professional chefs, after cooking gourmet food for 10 hours and getting off at 2 in the morning, end up at the Taco Bell drive through for their dinner. A number of us are Taco Bell fans. (our dirty little secret)

Transward

I totally understand, after cooking pancakes like at the annual MOM event when done I head back in the house and cook some eggs, the last thing I want is pancakes.

River

The real beef (sorry for the pun, I couldn't resist) is not the list of ingredients but the amount of meat stuffs in the filling. Taco Bell advertises a "meat" taco with only 36% meat in the filling. One might say, where's the beef? (again, a pun).