Yo quiero Taco Bell, with 88 percent beef please. That’s the message the chain restaurant delivered today with its full-page print ads featured in prominent newspapers such as The New York Times. Following a lawsuit filed last week in California federal courts that claimed Taco Bell uses a meat mixture in its tacos and burritos that does not meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture requirements to be labeled as beef, the company fought back with an advertising campaign titled “Thank you for suing us. Here’s the truth about our seasoned beef.” Taco Bell President Greg Creed asserts that the meat they use consists of 88 percent beef and 12 percent derived from a “secret recipe,” which actually turns out to be not so secret after the ad reveals the remaining 12 percent comprises: water (3 percent), Mexican spices (4 percent) and some oats, caramelized sugar, yeast, citric acid and other ingredients (5 percent).
Experts say that the added ingredients used in this recipe, such as oat products, are no different than what is found in many store-bought processed foods. Karen Ansel, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, tells the Los Angeles Times, “There is nothing really frankenfood in here. These are in a lot of foods we eat."