Where's the Beef?

[Magus]

That little old lady on the Wendy's commercial would have a heart attack over Taco Bell's "seasoned ground beef", which apparently consists mostly of the "seasoning" (didn't know oats and soy added a ton of flavor to meat, but anyway):

Originally Posted by Yahoo News

The late-night crowd knows all too well the allure of Taco Bell's piping-hot creations. But is it really ground beef they're putting in that beef meximelt?

That's the question at the heart of a lawsuit filed recently by the Montgomery, Alabama-based law firm Beasley Allen.

The standard for what constitutes meat as defined by the USDA is pretty straightforward: "flesh of animals." In the "Food Facts" section of its website, Taco Bell says the following about its beef: "Our taco meat is made from USDA-inspected beef and is subjected to quality check points. It tastes great because it's simmered in 12 authentic seasonings and spices and is never frozen. Moreover, our taco meat is leaner than what you'll find in a restaurant-cooked hamburger because of the unique way that we prepare our taco meat and remove fat." But Beasley Allen contends that the company's claims are untrue.

"Rather than beef, these food items are actually made with a substance known as 'taco meat filling,' " the lawsuit says. The firm contends that that Taco Bell shouldn't market the taco meat filling in question as beef because their testing shows that it only contains 36 percent ground beef. If that's true, Taco Bell's meat filling product would fall below the already generous USDA standard for it to qualify as meat -- the present standard demands it consist of at least 40 percent meat. This inspired Gizmodo's Jesus Diaz to crack, "Perhaps they should call it 'Almost Taco Meat Filling.'"

The remainder of the Taco Bell's meat filling product consists of "extenders" like water, "Isolated Oat Product," wheat oats, maltodrextrin, soy lecithin, maltodrextrin, anti-dusting agent, autolyzed yeast extract, modified corn starch, sodium phosphate and silicon dioxide.

Taco Bell actually addresses its use if silicon dioxide in the "Food Facts" section of its website under the question, "I heard a rumor that there's sand in your taco meat?" It then goes on to explain that silicone dioxide is "a safe, common food ingredient" that's "primarily used in food to prevent ingredients from sticking together."

In response, Taco Bell has issued a statement insisting that the suit is unfounded: "Taco Bell prides itself on serving high quality Mexican inspired food with great value. We're happy that the millions of customers we serve every week agree. We deny our advertising is misleading in any way and we intend to vigorously defend the suit."

In any event, the lawsuit's appetite-squelching accusations are likely to provide plenty of unadulterated fodder for late night comedians. "Late Show with David Letterman" head writer Eric Stangel was already making Taco Bell jokes on his Twitter page this morning, cracking that because of the lawsuit we're all finally "about to find out where the Taco Bell Chihuahua went."

UPDATE: Taco Bell President and Chief Concept Officer Greg Creed contacted The Lookout with a strongly worded amended corporate response to the lawsuit:

At Taco Bell, we buy our beef from the same trusted brands you find in the supermarket, like Tyson Foods. We start with 100 percent USDA-inspected beef. Then we simmer it in our proprietary blend of seasonings and spices to give our seasoned beef its signature Taco Bell taste and texture. We are proud of the quality of our beef and identify all the seasoning and spice ingredients on our website. Unfortunately, the lawyers in this case elected to sue first and ask questions later -- and got their "facts" absolutely wrong. We plan to take legal action for the false statements being made about our food."

Now I wouldn't have a problem with this if what Greg Creed said in another statement was true, that it is 88% beef. I could understand that. However, these attorneys have found that it is only 36% beef. The rest is soy, oats, and other fillers, along with a small amount of spices. Here is the ingredient list from the taco bell website:

Originally Posted by Taco Bell's Official Website

SEASONED GROUND BEEF

Beef, Water, Seasoning [Isolated Oat Product, Salt, Chili Pepper, Onion Powder, Tomato Powder, Oats (Wheat), Soy Lecithin, Sugar, Spices, Maltodextrin, Soybean Oil (Anti-dusting Agent), Garlic Powder, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Caramel Color, Cocoa Powder (Processed With Alkali), Silicon Dioxide, Natural Flavors, Yeast, Modified Corn Starch, Natural Smoke Flavor], Salt, Sodium Phosphates. CONTAINS SOYBEAN, WHEAT

So there have been a lot of jokes about the sort of mystery meat filling that goes into Taco Bell tacos, but I don't think anybody realized it is this bad. It's so bad that they aren't even meeting the minimum requirement for calling it "beef" filling--40% meat. That's pretty bad. And when you factor in the fact that in most of their value menu tacos that involve beef they are also sticking in copious amounts of refried beans and other ingredients, the amount of beef in one of these tacos may be quite miniscule indeed.

In any case, if eating at Taco Bell you may want to focus on tacos involving more meat, but they are not on the value menu or 2 dollar meal deals. I think we can all see now how they afforded to offer a 2 dollar meal deal--by cutting the amount of meat in their tacos to miniscule amounts. Their more expensive tacos seem to have less of the filler, such as in their chicken or steak tacos:

SOUTHWEST CHICKEN

Chicken Breast Meat With Rib Meat, Water, Seasoning [Salt, Maltodextrin, Spices, Garlic Powder, Chili Pepper, Paprika, Onion Powder, Carrageenan, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Natural Flavoring, Mixed Triglycerides, Yeast, Modified Corn Starch, Corn Syrup Solids, Yeast Extract, Alginates (Sodium, Calcium And/Or Ammonium), Cellulose, Calcium Chloride, Sodium Benzoate Used To Protect Quality, Not More Than 2% Silicon Dioxide Added To Prevent Caking, Soybean Oil], Modified Food Starch, Sodium Phosphates Soy Lecithin (Used As A Processing Aid). CONTAINS SOYBEANS

...

STEAK

Beef, Water, Seasoning [Modified Potato Starch, Salt, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Dextrose, Maltodextrin, Carrageenan, Paprika, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Spices, Hot Sauce (Aged Red Peppers, Vinegar, Salt), Citric Acid, Sugar, Dehydrated Vinegar, Soybean Oil, Natural Flavors, Soybean Lecithin], Sodium Phosphates. Sauce: Water, Seasoning (Salt, Caramel Color, Modified Food Starch, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Maltodextrin, Dextrose, Garlic Powder, Xanthan Gum, Onion Powder, Beef Stock, Vinegar Solids, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Sugar, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Succinic Acid, Soy Lecithin, Beef Fat, Potassium Sorbate) Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, BHT. CONTAINS SOYBEANS

They still contain soy but not oat fillers and the soy is listed as being lower on the list of ingredients, implying that there is less than in the "seasoned ground beef", which by all rights cannot be called beef under USDA regulations. I suppose to ask Taco Bell to at least raise their beef content to the minimum 40% (a rather hilarious minimum in and of itself), but this is just ignoring the larger problem of food quality, really.

[DFM]

This made me hungry for Taco Bell.

[Kim]

I was hoping that the thread would be an ambiguous one where we come up with our own answers.

I was going to say "In my pants" but now that dream is forever ruined.

Thanks a bunch, Magus.

T_T

[Krylo]

Their meat is, apparently, half sand, and it still tastes a hundred times better than Taco John's.

[DFM]

I had Taco John's tacos once during summer school when a friend brought them in and I don't know I thought they were pretty good.

But I haven't seen a Taco John's in forever so I guess most people agree with you.

[bluestarultor]

I prefer Taco John's to Taco Bell, myself.

This honestly wold surprise me more if I hadn't already known they, at least at one point, used such low-grade meat that people thought it often had worms in it, mistaking the gristle for something even less savory.

[mauve]

I read about this a few weeks ago.

Last I heard, Taco Bell was filling a counter-lawsuit, saying the attourneys' testing was flawed and their results inaccurate.

[Magus]

Then why haven't I seen the 88% beef statement on the website? I only saw it on a video of some kind on The Daily Show, I believe. If it's 88% beef point that out somewhere in your ingredient factoid section, Taco Bell, not just in a video I can't find on the internets. If it's 36% I don't see how you can make it out to look like a good thing, Taco Bell.

Also this Creed guy is Australian, that just makes their total unrelatedness to actual authenticity even more blatant. Like if it was some American white guy they could pretend he was from the Southwest or something. But Australia is REALLY Southwest...

BTW what is a Taco John's? Shouldn't it be Taco Juan's? John isn't even topical! I don't know how Bells are exactly, but I mean...I dunno...those churches in the westerns have bells that ring ominously at high noon. Also bell peppers? John though that's just totally unrelated.

Also, this isn't to say it doesn't taste good. If you put enough MSG and spices into ground up tires you could probably make it taste pretty good (someone should try this...). The question though is one of authenticity and truthfulness, and if it's not even meat I'm eating why am I eating a taco, I could just go buy taco chips and salsa or something and probably get more out of it. Or I might choose a taco of theirs that has more meat. Or I might eat someplace else. Transparency on this topic would be a good thing.

[Seil]

I prefer to make my own tacos.

Also, according to Cracked:

In the food industry, the practice of only halfway-filling containers with actual food is called "slack fill." Chip-makers want a cushion of air around their products as protection, because nothing sucks more than getting a bag full of smooshed chip bits, except maybe getting a bag full of empty, which is what it seems like sometimes.

The problem is that even though the FDA allows for some air space as food protection, sneaky manufacturers have been more than willing to abuse the system by halfway filling comically large bags with their products. So you think you're getting a big ol' bag of goodness when you're really not getting all that much ...

That sneaky dimple was put there for one reason: to put about two fewer ounces of peanut butter in the jar without the customer noticing. But manufacturers are keeping the prices the same, and sometimes even raising them. And peanut butter makers aren't the only ones pulling this shit, either.

A toilet roll might have the same number of sheets, but the sheets are an inch shorter, or worse, thinner. Cereal boxes are getting thinner while remaining the same height and width, to give the illusion of containing the same amount. A Hershey's chocolate bar has gotten an ounce and a half lighter yet sports the word "Giant," presumably because Hershey's thinks chocolate lovers are morons.

Apparently it's a pretty common practice to hide the food under a whole bunch of BS.

[Krylo]

Originally Posted by Magus

BTW what is a Taco John's? Shouldn't it be Taco Juan's? John isn't even topical! I don't know how Bells are exactly, but I mean...I dunno...those churches in the westerns have bells that ring ominously at high noon. Also bell peppers? John though that's just totally unrelated.

It bills itself as TexMex. The John is obviously Texan.

They have these hashbrown things with cheese and jalapenos in them that are pretty good. Edit: Potato Oles.

The actual meat, however, tastes like someone ate mexican, and then shat on a tortilla.