Taco Bell Meat: Where's The Beef?

Taco Bell's beef has come under fire, but if only 36 percent of the "beef" is actually beef by volume, what's the rest made of?

Ranging from cocoa power to terms as generic as "spices," the other 64 percent is made up of a wide range of fillers, extenders and preservatives.

Can this be called beef at all? The Alabama law firm bringing the suit against the chain doesn't think so.

From Gizmodo:

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.

The full list of ingredients in "Taco Meat Filling" is below.

Taco Bell Beef Ingredients:

1. Water
2. Isolated oat product
3. Salt
4. Chili pepper
5. Onion powder
6. Tomato powder
7. Oats (wheat)
8. Soy lecithin
9. Sugar
10. Spices
11. Maltodextrin (a polysaccharide that is absorbed as glucose)
12. Soybean oil (anti-dusting agent)
13. Garlic powder
14. Autolyzed yeast extract
15. Citric acid, caramel color
16. Cocoa powder
17. Silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent)
18. Natural flavors
19. Yeast
20. Modified corn starch
21. Natural smoke flavor
22. Salt
23. Sodium phosphate
24. Less than 2% of beef broth
25. Potassium phosphate
26. Potassium lactate

Comments

[A terrible sadness]

03:40 PM on 01/29/2011

One of the Taco Bells in town had a trailer parked in the lot for about 6 to 8 months after it was built. On the side of the trailer was a very weathered, and faded, Alpo logo. Obviously, this became the source of many jokes for us, given the look of the "meat" in their tacos.

Looks like we were more correct than we ever thought. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go be sick.

[ArtCarnage]

01:28 PM on 01/28/2011

The "anti dusting agent" is just soybean oil, and it's routinely used in the commercial grinding of beef. While I don't believe the numbers in the lawsuit, It appears by TB's own admission that they are technically violating the law, as per the legal definition of "ground beef" in the state the lawsuit was brought (which doesn't allow water to be added, for example).

[CrazyEyes]

04:27 PM on 01/27/2011

Salt is both the third and twenty second ingredient?

[cburton81]

08:10 PM on 01/26/2011

awww man! I really love taco bell but I guess I understand now why it always has me running to the men's room. >:-(

[Daniel Gilchrist]

07:56 PM on 01/26/2011

Okay, so I came here from the Young Turks on youtube, and there they said that it contained an ANTI DUSTING AGENT*. Is this true, our were they referring to the silicone dioxide. (They mentioned that separately though. I am skeptical about this option.) Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgG8owAfdCI
*Caps Lock was necessary.

[Daniel Gilchrist]

08:03 PM on 01/26/2011

Well this is embarrassing. I had chosen to read the list more carefully, I would have seen clearly that soybean oil is an anti dusting agent. Woops. I would delete this and my previous post, but I can't see how to...

[Charlie Wollborg]

03:36 PM on 01/26/2011

Out: Carne asada. In: Carne treinta y seis.

With less than 36% beef, I think there's more oats in my taco than my granola bar. Will I still eat at Taco Bell? That depends: what percentage of the chicken is chicken?

We had a little fun remixing The Treasure of the Sierra Madre with the Taco Bell lawsuit last night:
http://t.co/hX6ADMi
EXCLUSIVE: Footage of standoff between Alabama lawyers & Taco Bell executives outside the courthouse.

[RavenWytch]

03:29 PM on 01/26/2011

Yummay! I think it'll be a while before I make another run for the border...

[Christopher Koulouris]

10:49 PM on 01/25/2011

One day, when you’re sitting on the toilet don’t be surprised as you tend to mother nature that a tailgate from a Chevy Chase coated in maltodextrin and sodium phosphates comes oozing down the tile floor. Because if it does- you’ll be glad you found it at Taco Bell.
Shouldn’t you order a beef “TACO BELL” soon?

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2011/01/taco-bell-wants-to-tell-you-that-it-doesnt-entirely-use-beef-in-their-tacos/

[Action Sam]

05:35 PM on 01/25/2011

17. Silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent)

umm eww?? wtf? I really have no problem with most of that list as its mostly food or food based substances and salts, but can we PLEEEASE get fast food companies to stop putting silicon into our foods as anti-foaming and anti-caking agents?? That is just an absolute horror. other uses include window caulking, lubrications, treatment of head lice, Rain X, shoe polish, breast implants, etc..

[Zeebob]

12:23 AM on 01/26/2011

Actually Silicon dioxide is not harmful, its basically rocks but in a ultra fine powder form.

There are other anti caking agents that are aluminum based you should avoid those, they're in some baking powders (Davis) and in some of the cheaper powder drink mixes (ice tea, lemonade).

What you should be upset about is the lack of beef in the above ingredients.

[minusjason]

09:54 AM on 01/26/2011

I always love it when someone mentions the other uses of something as though that means it's harmful to eat. For example, look at zinc... it's used in batteries and galvanized metal (off the top of my head), but it's also an essential nutrient.

[Danny Wier]

05:02 PM on 01/25/2011

It's probably a bit more expensive, though cheaper than pure beef, but I use a 50-50 mix of turkey and beef in my burgers, tacos, meatballs, kafta kabobs and such. I'm sure turkey is closer to beef than oats...

[Bike Commuter]

09:01 PM on 01/25/2011

Ground turkey tacos are great.

[stallrocket]

05:02 PM on 01/25/2011

It turns out it's the soylent green that causes apres Taco Bell diarrhea. I should have known.

[Freevo]

08:29 PM on 01/25/2011

ROFLOL

[Gabrielle Smith]

04:25 PM on 01/25/2011

Per Taco Bell's web site:

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

[gigabiting]

04:14 PM on 01/25/2011

Maybe less beef is a good thing.
Consider the alternative.
Most fast food beef is created out of the trimmings and detritus shipped from slaughterhouses around the country and has to be put through a pathogen killing process to get it clean enough to eat.
Fake Beef in Taco Ball Tacos. Why all the fuss?
http://gigabiting.com/?p=7413/

[dayof]

10:32 PM on 01/26/2011

Ever since I moved to the US about 15 yrs ago I have not been able to eat fast food. As soon as I eat it, I throw up. I've never researched why, I mean mentally I knew it was bad, and my body knew it's bad for me, but now I know why. Ewwwww!!!!!

[CrazyEyes]

04:33 PM on 01/27/2011

Apparently you are allergic to oats.

[HealthyYou]

04:09 PM on 01/25/2011

It is a little gross to think about the 'beef' not actually being beef. But this is just one way that most fast food is harmful to our bodies. Every thing in moderation works best - especially beef that's not really beef. For more easy nutrition tips check out this fantastic blog: http://blog.mydiscoverhealth.com/