How is taco bell meat cooked

We prepare it much the same way you prepare taco meat at home: after simmering, it is drained of excess fat and pre-seasoned with our signature blend of 7 authentic seasonings and spices. Also, they source meat locally and are able to save on transport-related expenses.

Lastly, they do not have in-house butchers, so lower labor costs mean lower prices. The process starts with cuttings and trim from cattle carcasses that are sliced up into little steaks and sent away to be turned into ground beef. Thankfully, you can have both — health and Taco Bell that is. Next is soy lecithin, and the Huffington Post says it's in almost everything. You'll find it in things from milk chocolate to mayo, and it's so popular because it acts as an emulsifier to bind ingredients like water and oil that would otherwise separate.

It's also used as a releasing agent think non-stick cooking spray , as a wetting agent it makes baking easier and for cutting back on stickiness and foaminess.

There's lactic acid, too, and SFGate says that's added to a ton of products particularly dairy, sourdoughs, and fermented goodness to add a bit of a citrus tang.

SFGate looked at sodium phosphate, too, and says getting too much of it can cause issues, but you get such a small amount there's generally no reason to be concerned. Of all the ingredients, the ones that might make you pause are a few more commonly associated with sweet than savory. Cocoa powder and caramel color caramelized sugar are both on the ingredient list, and according to Taco Bell via ABC News they're only there to give the meat a little added color richness.

The saying goes that the first bite is with the eye, and that's true in the fast food world, too. Let's go to a different sort of expert: Derek Lowe , an organic chemist who's spent decades in the pharmaceutical industry. ABC News got in touch with him when the whole "seasoned beef" thing started going viral and asked him for his opinion on these ingredients, which he posted in full in a piece for Science Translational Medicine.

I'm not going to look at some long chemical name on a list of ingredients and immediately assume I'm being poisoned," he said. Lowe says in his experience, the food chain is pretty safe.

His words of wisdom apply across all foods, and he says that just because something isn't familiar, that doesn't mean it's dangerous.

Anything can be made scary. Look at it this way: would you eat R -3,4-dihydroxy S -1,2-dihydroxyethyl furan-2 5H -one?

Then you'll die of scurvy, because that's Vitamin C. With more and more people trying to find more environmentally-friendly, healthy ways to get their protein , Taco Bell is trying to stay one step ahead of the game with the introduction of their protein Power menu. You're not the only one wondering what's up with that, and Take Part says it's part of their move to offer some healthier alternatives.

This particular menu is high-meat, high-protein, low-fat, and low-carb. It's also unrolling slowly, so there will likely be changes to what you see on offer at Taco Bell today. Whether or not anyone needs as much protein as they're packing into each one of these meals is up for debate and nutritionists seem to suggest we already get plenty of protein already, without going out of our way.

But the important part for our sake of argument is that the re-branding isn't Taco Bell going back on their word. It's not an indication that their meat is anything but meat, it's an attempt to seem more healthy and, according to Quartz , pave the way for including alternate, non-meat protein sources in their menu down the road.

It was one shared by sister companies also operating under the umbrella of Yum! While other fast food chains were redoubling their efforts toward responsibly sourced products and their commitment to animal welfare, Yum! At the time, they were the only major chain in the US who hadn't put a plan in place for improving their sourcing. In fact, in CEO Greg Creed went as far as saying it just wasn't possible to switch to sourcing only from farmers who promised to go hormone- and antibiotic-free.

We use a small amount as a thickener and to maintain moisture in our seasoned beef. It's common in many foods like yogurt," Taco Bell states. That's what soy lecithin does. It helps with moisture to bind substances that would otherwise separate -- like oil and water. It's a common ingredient in many grocery staples, like chocolate bars and salad dressings," says Taco Bell. Taco Bell says, "This safe acid occurs in almost all living things, and we use a very small amount to manage the acidity to get the right flavor.

Taco Bell says the caramel color "is caramelized sugar, which is a commonly used food coloring also found in cereals and pancake syrup. Cocoa Powder doesn't add any flavor to our recipe, but it helps our seasoned beef maintain a rich color.