Taco Bell Sells Fake Meat. So What? Everybody’s Doing It

by Vanessa Barrington on February 2, 2011 in Food

Food companies are like greedy cocaine dealers – cutting food with cheaper ingredients to increase profits. This is nothing new, and it’s not just happening with meat.

But first, about that beef with Taco Bell’s “beef.” Vegetable proteins are cheaper than meat and that’s why they are used as extenders by companies like Taco Bell. Texturized Soy Protein is one of the most commonly used extenders. Why is it so cheap?

Texturized soy protein is actually a by-product of soy oil, so the food industry gets to double dip while taking advantage of the massive government subsidies bestowed upon the soy industry.

Let’s take a look at the other duplicitous tactics the food companies employ in their ingredients.

Taco Bell:

According to its own nutrition statements, Taco Bell’s Cherry Limeade contains: Treated water, Sugar, Lime Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavor, Sodium Citrate, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Calcium Disodium EDTA, Red 40. What, no cherries? Thank goodness the water is “treated.”

In case you thought it was just the taco meat, Taco Bell’s carnitas contain pork, water, spice, roast pork flavor, natural smoke flavor, pork conditioner (modified food starch, tapioca), corn syrup solids, and a slew of other “flavors” and “textures.”

Do we want to know what “pork conditioner” looks like?

Burger King:

The Taco Filling at Burger King contains water as the first ingredient, followed by beef, and then textured vegetable protein (itself a mixture of soy flour, artificial colors, flavors, and chemicals, and starches). Burger King isn’t required to list the percentages, so it’s anyone’s guess how much meat there is in relation to this textured vegetable protein.

KFC:

I think KFC might be the worst offender. KFC’s Chicken Pot Pie lists chicken stock, potatoes (and their accompanying preservatives), carrots, peas, modified food starch, chicken fat, chicken pot pie “flavor” (consisting of hydrolyzed corn, soy and wheat gluten protein, salt, vegetable stock [carrot, onion, celery], maltodextrin, flavors, dextrose, chicken broth), as well as hydrogenated oils, chemicals, and preservatives…all before we ever hear a mention of chicken. Download the ingredient listings here.

The Apple Turnover contains enriched bleached flour water, vegetable shortening, starches, gums, conditioners, flavors, and preservatives before mentioning apples (themselves accompanied by salt, ascorbic acid, citric acid, high fructose corn syrup, water, food starch-modified, and spices).

Wendy’s:

Wendy’s, by contrast, sells food that more closely resembles food, albeit with tons of preservatives. For example, the Crispy Chicken Patty contains chicken breast, water, salt, sodium phosphates, flours, starches, spices, and a whole lot of hydrogenated oils.

Think you’re safe from all this processed material if you don’t eat in fast food restaurants? Think again.

Kellogg’s, Betty Crocker and General Mills:

Packaged food companies have been passing off sugar, corn syrup, starch, hydrogenated oil, artificial flavors and artificial food dye as blueberries. After all, blueberries are pretty expensive.

Lean Cuisine:

A stroll through the frozen foods aisle in the grocery store revels that Lean Cuisine Baked Chicken contains Isolated Soy Protein. This appears to be a piece of actual flesh, but clearly it has been broken down and processed. Likewise, the chunks of beef in the Lean Cuisine Hunan Beef contain modified cornstarch product, caramel coloring added.

Marie Callender’s:

The turkey in Marie Callender’s Turkey Breast Dinner lists Isolated Soy Protein as a main ingredient.

Hungry Man by Swanson’s:

This icon of the frozen food aisle lists water, food starch, and soy protein concentrate as ingredients in the turkey in its Turkey Breast Dinner.

What’s the solution? Eat real food as much as possible. Fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, meats from the meat counter, and cook for yourself. That’s the only way to ensure you’re getting exactly what you think you’re getting. And you’ll probably live a lot longer too.

This is the latest installment in Vanessa Barrington’s weekly column, The Green Plate, on the environmental, social, and political issues related to what and how we eat.

Images: Andres Rueda, theimpulsivebuy, Sjors Provoost, .angels, D.L., House of Sims, theimpulsivebuy, theimpulsivebuy, inazakira

46 thoughts on “Taco Bell Sells Fake Meat. So What? Everybody’s Doing It”

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I am 5’6″, 115 lbs, a former fitness model, and I have diabetes.u00a0 That’s not even an accurate statement of Type 2 diabetes.u00a0 It completely overlooks Type 1.u00a0 For that matter, you should really give another look at what the media sells you as ‘healthy diet’ and ‘achievable fitness’.u00a0 The models on the cover of publications such as Mens Health often show up near-fainting for shoots and subject themselves to up-and-down crash dieting that messes with their natural levels of vitamins, minerals, and hydration, sometimes to lethal levels.u00a0 nnIf you ate the same amount of calories you eat per day, broken up into twice the number of meals?u00a0 You’d probably start seeing health benefits and some amount of weight loss from that alone.u00a0 If you then ate the same amount of calories per day from whole foods and whole grains, I guarantee you would because your body isn’t immediately hit with a metric ton of simple carbs all at once.u00a0 You’d probably start eating less naturally because you’d feel more full from them.

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People are to lazy to do this, thats why fast food is so big in america.

You are correct. In fact our congress gave an exemption to conflict of
interest laws so that developers of GMO created seeds could approve their
safety without being liable for any damage they might have on people and the
environment. This exposes the agenda of those in our government.

IT”S PEOOOOPPPLEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im in culinary school, fried is a type of dry heat cooking. Before anyone who thinks they know what they are talking about, its a dry-heat method because you are cooking in a deep fat fryer, the hot oil contains no moisture(oil and water dont mix…). You cant eat something that hasnt been cooked. Salmonella!

Human health and longevity isn’t more important?

It is hard to be responsible when you go to the grocery store and nothing in there is required to label foods properly, like if it contains GMO’s, if it was grown with treated sewage, if Hormones are added… i dont think a little exercise will compensate for chemical buildup on the base of your brain stem.

the executives of these companies are the same people who work on regulatory authorities. Watch Future of Food

If you want real food eat from a vendor that uses real food or cook it yourself.
However in the typical American diet, you probably don’t need the extra meat and the fillers may be healthier for you.
As for organic v. gmo or other health concerns, hard to imagine that is anywhere near as important as the total calories consumed v. exercise issue or even the % fried foods issue.
It’s really more a personal responsibility thing than those sneaky vendors.
Pay attention and eat smart.

they are doing this things in order to save money, this is all a business strategy..

You mean fast food is bad for us???
Nobody is poisoning us but US. Don’t want it? Don’t eat it.

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raisins are dried grapes…. not blueberries

since 90% of the worlds soy production is controlled by Monsanto “Round Up Ready” seed you and especially the kids are eating gmo soy and you think your eating healthy. Knucklhead.

I for one actually want some seasonings in my tacos. They would be mighty bland if they all they were was plain meat. Also, its pretty much impossible to have a taco shell that hasn’t been processed. All, flour is processed food. And preservatives are included for you safety not to poison you.

The executives of these companies have no conscience just like the regulatory bodies who approved the use of these toxic chemicals in our food. Maybe the pentagon should hire them since they have designed the perfect chemical biowarfare weapon where the victim pays the cost for his own demise.

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All right gang, let’s debate but keep it civil please! Thank you. – Editor

People should be thankful?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

You ignorant @$$hole!!!

It depends on the meat (only organic, grass-fed is good) and the soy (only fermented is good). You’re an idiot if you think everything is as black and white as you made it out to be.

wow, this statement is incredibly dumb

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Not as simple as that. There’s a lot more to it than “just eat half of what you eat now” and, as a diabetic, I’m somewhat insulted by your statement.

Meat eaters love to criticize soy products… yet they are eating them. HA! But yeah cooking at home is cheaper, way more satisfying and delicious.

haha yeah right. It’s eating too much – not what you’re eating. Eat half of what you eat now, don’t experience diabetes. Simple as that.

I work at a KFC and the chicken pot pies are not fake. Chicken is not listed because it is not part of the pot pie “mix.” It is added at the last minute from chicken pieces that were fried but not cooked.

97% OF SOY GROWN IN THE USA IS GENETICALLY MODIFIED, SCENTISTS HAVE LINKED GMO SOY TO STERILITY IN HAMSTERS, THE MOVIE CHILDREN OF MEN WAS A WARNING.

THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM YOUR GOD, HE HAS RETURNED.

What’s in taco bell meat? #tacobell

well, considering most of the “fillers” the article sites are soy products, you’re making the argument that soy is worse for us than meat? That fatty red meat is better for stroke and heart disease than soy products?

I always suspected Tofu and Edamame were evil!

No salt ever? I bet Sunday dinner at your place is a real treat for the senses.

All these freedom-haters dissing on Capitalism. First you want freedom, then you want regulations. Isn’t capitalism wortt being poisoned for?

And within the “beef” designation is AMR, the pink slime treated with ammonia that Bush’s FDA allowed to migrate from pet food over to humans. Can Soylent Green be far away?

Now that’s the real cause of diabetes, stroke, heart disease and other nasty diseases–the food industry is poisoning us.

dont eat at any of those sh2T holes

“Wendy’s, by contrast, sells food that more closely resembles food, albeit with tons of preservatives.”

What preservatives? You mentioned sodium phosphates, but no other preservatives. that hardly qualifies as tons. i worked there once upon a time, and the meat was really 100% pure ground beef. We simply added salt and cooked it.

Soy should not be eaten by any means, it is poison to the system. I will never eat at any of these places again. My God why is this happening? They are poisoning everyone.

I only hope that soya products are ok for human health.

Oh wow, This makes a lot of sense dude, seriously.

Some truths about food chains….

Well, that’s correct. Everyone does it. People should understand that if they want to eat pure meat or beef, they will be paying more. People should be thankful, they are eating meat, that is not actually meat but tastes like meat.

I eat a lot of “fake meats” which have soy protein to supplement my vegetarian diet occasionally but at least I didn’t think I was getting meat!

Nice one, Vanessa. Way to shine the light on the other “fake meat” offenders – they should be held accountable like Taco Bell. Side note: KFC sells pot pies and turnovers? And Burger King sells Tacos? This is all news to me