Taco Bell 'First Meal' And Other Fast Food Breakfast Offenders

Taco Bell released their "first meal" (read: breakfast) menu in 10 Western states this week, including California and Arizona. The menu includes three varieties of burritos, along with fried balls of cinnamon-flavored dough, stuffed with cream. While full information on the breakfast items isn't yet available (and they won't make their way across the country until 2013), it's an unexpected entry into the fast-growing convenience breakfast market. According to HuffPost Food:

Breakfast has become the most important meal of the day for restaurants, accounting for virtually all of the industry's growth in the past five years.

Obviously, Taco Bell wasn't going for healthy fare. But as many major chains bring more breakfast to their menus, it's a good idea to know exactly how you're starting the day. Many fast food breakfast menu items are presented as if they are nutritionally sound. But it's a good idea to take a closer look. Here are a few seemingly redeemable 'first meals' that deserve a skeptical eye:

Comments

[Amaro Pedro]

09:30 AM on 02/13/2012

chingaos its about time

[Beatriz Sandoval]

05:44 PM on 02/01/2012

Nothing like fresh fruit ! Stick with healthier meals people ! It's hard but not impossible.. Give it a try..http://www.skinnyscoop.com/list/betty_sand/what-do-you-eat-in-the-am-

[Lily P]

04:48 PM on 01/30/2012

This is why FF is bad. I used to get just an egg from MdDonalds every once & a while. Just a friggin egg. Then I found what was IN "just an egg" Egg:
USDA Grade A eggs, soy lecithin (release agent). Prepared with Liquid Margarine: Liquid soybean oil and hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils, water, partially
hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, soy lecithin, mono-and diglycerides, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A
palmitate, beta carotene (color). From their own website. It's not "just an egg". Infact, it has sodium benzoate in it. An ingredient in fireworks.

[Amaro Pedro]

09:29 AM on 02/13/2012

wth.just eat it dont research it everything has some sort of crap if you really look deep in it

[SteveC 1979]

04:29 PM on 01/30/2012

These "breakfasts" are disgusting and I wouldn't touch touch a single one of them. It is not hard or time-consuming to make a proper, nutritious breakfast. Come on.

[ktbird67]

12:42 PM on 01/30/2012

I grab an organic yogurt and a muffin on the way out the door. Really, is it that hard to not eat this crap?

[musicka]

10:42 AM on 01/30/2012

Mr. Bittman could have ordered his McDonald's oatmeal without sugar and saved us from his lazy research. They have an unsweetened version clearly on the menu.

[sonofsamphm1c]

09:13 AM on 01/30/2012

Can anybody point to a peer-reviewed scientific study that proves McDonalds makes less healthy food than Mommy?

Didn't think so.

Oatmeal at home: raisins, sugar, butter, milk, etc.- in no time, more sugar than a Snickers bar. Bank it.

Poison? Really? It's amazing. In pursuit of moral superiority, have you kicked a fast-food restaurant today?

[ktbird67]

12:46 PM on 01/30/2012

You don't need a peer reviewed scientific study, just look at the numbers on the nutrition facts. The same meal at home will be more wholesome, assuming you are making it with wholesome ingredients. Obviously layering your breakfast with an inch of sugar isn't a smart decision.

[sonofsamphm1c]

01:52 PM on 01/30/2012

As someone has pointed out, you can ask for oatmeal at McDonalds that does not have extra sugar. Why would food at home be more wholesome. It all comes from the same source. I've seen things in home refrigerators that are horrifying.

And to indict an industry, you do need science. Opinions have no place. And it's not fair to say supersize all of it, because, just like at home, people can make excellent choices at McDonalds with respect to what they eat.

the anti-fast-food industry is a fact torturing scam.

[ApolloniusofTyana]

08:36 AM on 01/30/2012

Those look horrible.
The Burger King bowl is the least offensive. Guidelines on fat are all wrong. Cutting carbs is key to health, not cutting fat.

[thobora]

08:33 AM on 01/30/2012

It's fast food! Of course it's not going to be good for you!

[AbeMartin]

08:04 AM on 01/30/2012

Dadgummit!! I was going to get by with some coffee this morning, but now after lookin' at all those pretty pictures, I'm heading over to Burger King for the Breakfast Bowl (HTTW, Jack-in-the-Box, also has a cholesterol, salt and grease laden and cheesy offering), followed by a jog across the street to Dunkin' Donuts for a big, sugary muffin, and, yep! my coffee! Yum! PS: Don't tell Mika Brzezinski!

[tribeffl3]

07:54 AM on 01/30/2012

To start this is FAST food....common sense should tell you they may not be the most healthy things to eat. My breakfast usually consists of shredded wheat cereal with low fat milk and a banana on the side. On occasion I may have some eggs. It doesn't really take that long to prepare and eat these foods and it's economically sound.

[sonofsamphm1c]

08:58 AM on 01/30/2012

How is it common sense? What if low-fat milk is killing you? You know, natural selection killed off all the low-fat milk cows.

[orion52]

07:52 AM on 01/30/2012

Glad I read this I have gotten Oatmeal at Mc D's a few times and saw it was only 300 cal so. NOW I will pass it by! Thanks again for the misleading adds Mc D's. Oh and YOU SUCK!

[odiedogy1]

07:59 AM on 01/30/2012

I guess you are just to lazy to wake up and make your own oatmeal or could it be you can not cook, I would guess you can not cook because you eat at MC Fatty's

[sonofsamphm1c]

09:02 AM on 01/30/2012

Throw away half the raisins and other niblets - whatever they are.

[orion52]

09:39 AM on 01/30/2012

Oh well I stop by sometimes before I go grocery shopping at round 3pm. I sometimes forget to eat lunch. And my Momma always said NEVER go to the grocery store hungry.
I do make my own oat meal every morning. I like the Whole Oats not really the 1 min oat meal The pieces get gummy and that grosses me out. I actually LOVE to cook I just recently started trying to cook Moroccan food. I purchased a Tagine and everything. I have a Naan success story the other day! LOVE YOU and hope you have a BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!! MWAH!

[barnacle547]

07:42 AM on 01/30/2012

I'd like a plain whole-wheat bagel and a stick of butter to go.

[AbeMartin]

08:05 AM on 01/30/2012

Hold the bagel!

[TSRVT]

07:41 AM on 01/30/2012

Anyone who patronizes Chik-Fil-A ought to be ashamed of themselves, regardless of what they order.

[thobora]

08:31 AM on 01/30/2012

Why?

[infernalkiwi]

09:26 AM on 01/30/2012

Most likely TSRVT is a Religious Zealot, Chik-Fil-A is a "christian" company. Nothing worse than showing values down your throat while killing you physically too.

[LadyAriana]

05:16 AM on 01/30/2012

Why would you go to a fast food outlet for breakfast? It'd take longer for your order to come up than just making it at home. For those who say that they don't have time to make breakfast in the morning - who are you trying to kid? Breakfast is the easiest and quickest meal to make. Just put some bread in the toaster and slap some spread on it - you can eat it in the car! Or get those pre-made breakfast shake things, I leave some in the fridge and drink it in the car on the way to work.

[orion52]

07:53 AM on 01/30/2012

You know I would get some oatmeal in the afternoon before we hit the grocery store. If I was hungry, now can't do that!