Sometimes it seems like just about every fast-food restaurant has had some sort
of scandal involving its meat. For Subway, it was the chain's questionable tuna. KFC
has faced allegations that include serving raw chicken, expired products and even a
fried rat. And Burger King may or may not have passed off horse meat as beef back in 2013.
There's also the recurring claim that McDonald's uses pink slime as a meat filler in its products.
According to Business Insider, pink slime is made from beef trimmings — basically what's left after
all the good cuts of meat are removed — and ammonia. An inspection by Mythbusters alum,
Grant Imahara, revealed that while McDonald's has used pink slime in the past,
the chain's burgers are now in fact 100% beef.
And now, Taco Bell might be just as guilty of serving leftover bits of meat
being marketed as shredded chicken.
In 2011, Taco Bell faced a lawsuit accusing the fast-food chain of serving beef that
was more filler than meat, according to NPR. The lawsuit was eventually dropped,
but some are still skeptical about Taco Bell's offerings.
One self-identified former Taco Bell employee took to TikTok to shed some light on the chain's meats.
In her video, the former employee states that the ground beef is perfectly fine,
and is made with water and seasoning. The grilled chicken is also a safe bet.
But the shredded chicken is where things get a bit more questionable. The TikToker revealed:
"But the shredded chicken is all of the bits of the chicken that you don't want to eat,
and I promise you, eventually you're gonna get a bone."
Avoiding Taco Bell's shredded chicken shouldn't be too difficult nowadays.
Taco Bell took it off the menu in 2020.
The TikToker goes on to warn viewers about Taco Bell's steak, claiming it's mostly gelatin.
But Taco Bell denies the claims, telling Newsweek in a statement:
"There is no added gelatin in our steak. Taco Bell takes pride in using high-quality ingredients,
and we use only USDA-grade select or better for our steak."
According to the USDA, select-grade steak ranks just above commercial
ungraded steak in terms of quality. Regardless of what the steak contains,
lovers of Taco Bell still say it tastes pretty darn good, so maybe that's all that matters.
Wide Open Eats suggests avoiding the steak items,
including the steak quesadilla. But according to some displeased diners,
Taco Bell's steak overcooks easily. Dry, chewy steak isn't exactly appetizing.
If you can get past the texture, nutrition facts are also something else to consider. A single
Taco Bell steak quesadilla is 520 calories. And that's before you customize it. Extra cheese,
for example, adds 190 calories. The steak quesadilla also has 14 grams of saturated
fat and 1,250 milligrams of sodium, making it far from a healthy choice.
Another Taco Bell option you may want to avoid for your health's sake is the Beefy 5-Layer Burrito.
Its 490 calories pack in a whopping 7 grams of saturated fat and 1,230 milligrams of sodium.
Taco Bell's Nacho Fries Bellgrande aren't currently on the menu,
but the fries are known to come and go from the fast-food chain. But if you're
looking for nutrient-dense options, this may not be the best choice at Taco Bell.
According to the Taco Bell website, this menu item packs quite the punch in terms of calories.
One order of loaded nacho fries is 710 calories. The Nacho Fries Bellgrande also contain more than
1,400 milligrams of sodium. And just to put that number in context,
the FDA recommends consuming only around 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day. When you take in
too much sodium, your blood pressure increases. In addition to harming your heart and blood vessels,
elevated sodium levels can potentially affect your kidneys and nervous system.
It's not all bad news. Taco Bell is actually one of the healthier fast-food chains out there,
thanks to its wide variety of vegetarian and plant-based options. The chain's Veggie Cravings
menu features options like the Black Bean Grilled Cheese Burrito and the Black Bean Soft Taco. So if
you're avoiding meat at Taco Bell or for whatever reason, you won't go hungry at this chain.
"Just trust me and stay away from the shredded chicken, steak, ew."
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