Taco Bell sued

nathan said:
Can I use rolled oats (aka porridge oats), or should they be in some other form?
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Rolled oats are "oatmeal" :) So those are fine. Usually if I want to add those to meat, i pulse them a couple of times in a food processor to cut them into smaller bits first though. Just a texture thing for me. It may not matter to you.
 
BenBurch said:
Now you know how the scientists and engineers feel in the AGW threads.
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Speaking for the few of us that are both, telling the difference between taco filling and ground meat is rather obvious.

Of course paying for part of the first undergrad pushing 100lbs. of Aussie bull and trim through a grinder every weekend makes it that much easier. :cool:
 
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.



These are the ingredients listed at the Taco Bell website for their "seasoned ground beef."

Now, please note that this list begins with three ingredients: beef, water, and seasoning.

Now note that immediately following the word "seasoning" is a set of brackets: [ ]

Everything listed between those brackets is an ingredient found in the seasoning.

These oats everyone is talking about are not separate from the seasonings, but are part of the seasoning mixture. That is why they are enclosed within brackets that immediately follow the word "seasoning."
Immediately after the closing bracket are two more ingredients: the salt and the sodium phosphates.

The oat products are quite clearly labeled as seasoning.
 
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SkeptiChick said:
Thank you for that.

Given that statement, I simply cannot see how anyone could test it and end up with a number anywhere near 36%. I'll be really curious to see the details of the testing, when/if it finally comes to light.
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40% Taco shell, 40% filling( Seasoned and cooked whatever), 5% cheese, 15% lettuce...
 
quadraginta said:
In order to share this anecdote I am forced to confess a serious culinary character flaw.
"Hello. My name is quadraginta, and I like ...

... meatloaf."

:jaw-dropp

:blush:
​
(Good meatloaf, that is. :))
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A while back, I switched from making a standard meatloaf to America's Test Kitchen's "All-American Mini-Meatloaves". Instead of one big loaf you make 4 (or more) mini-meatloaves that you brown in a skillet, top with glaze, and finish in the oven. You end up with a more browned-and-glazed surface area, and the whole thing takes like 1/2 an hour.

quadraginta said:
Yes.

When I mentioned "oatmeal" in the Universe's Best Meatloaf (TM), that is what I meant. As in Quaker Oats, or some similar preparation. I guess the term "oatmeal" covers a lot of territory, much of it regional or cultural.
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I tend to think of "oatmeal" as being cooked. I would tend to refer to "rolled oats" (including, old-fashioned, quick-cooking, or instant varieties) or "steel-cut oats" to refer to the uncooked ingredient.
 
ZirconBlue said:
A while back, I switched from making a standard meatloaf to America's Test Kitchen's "All-American Mini-Meatloaves". Instead of one big loaf you make 4 (or more) mini-meatloaves that you brown in a skillet, top with glaze, and finish in the oven. You end up with a more browned-and-glazed surface area, and the whole thing takes like 1/2 an hour.



I tend to think of "oatmeal" as being cooked. I would tend to refer to "rolled oats" (including, old-fashioned, quick-cooking, or instant varieties) or "steel-cut oats" to refer to the uncooked ingredient.
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Can we please, PLEASE, get back to the fact that Taco Bell (not to mention every chain restaurant, and probably every non-chain that serves ground beef) puts stuff in their ground beef? It's really bothering one of the forum members! Think of the children!
 
ZirconBlue said:
A while back, I switched from making a standard meatloaf to America's Test Kitchen's "All-American Mini-Meatloaves". Instead of one big loaf you make 4 (or more) mini-meatloaves that you brown in a skillet, top with glaze, and finish in the oven. You end up with a more browned-and-glazed surface area, and the whole thing takes like 1/2 an hour.
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Sounds fantastic. More room for bacon.

Sadly, my forays into new meat preparations have been severely curtailed by the current Mrs. qg who, while tolerant of my weaknesses, is still a dedicated vegetarian, and finds subtle (and less than subtle) ways to discourage too many such experiments.

(Maybe sometime when she goes out to visit. :p)

quadraginta said:
Yes.

When I mentioned "oatmeal" in the Universe's Best Meatloaf (TM), that is what I meant. As in Quaker Oats, or some similar preparation. I guess the term "oatmeal" covers a lot of territory, much of it regional or cultural.
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I tend to think of "oatmeal" as being cooked. I would tend to refer to "rolled oats" (including, old-fashioned, quick-cooking, or instant varieties) or "steel-cut oats" to refer to the uncooked ingredient.
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As I said, regional variations. Although I know and understand the distinction I'm still prone to think of both as "oatmeal". Note that this is separate from "porridge" which has always, in my experience, been oatmeal made by an incompetent who used too much water.

True oatmeal (the breakfast) requires raisins, an excess of brown sugar, a puddle of butter melted in a pool on the top, and enough body to keep the spoon from falling over. It can't be made properly with anything instant.

That's the way my grandmother made it. She was from New Hampshire. So there.
 
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3bodyproblem said:
I couldn't tell you from tasting it what percentage is beef and which is filler. It could be 75% beef and 15% filler or it could be 15% beef and 75% filler (the rest water).
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Would not the former tend to have a significantly stronger beef flavor?
 
This is a very interesting thread, and for some reason I feel compelled to post in it.

I just had 3 taco supreme's (hard shell) from my local Taco Bell. Tasted good.


That's about it.
 
3bodyproblem said:
And this is where I believe Taco Bell might be in trouble. Their "ground beef" does not match the USDA definition or the FDA definition of "ground beef".
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Umm, what "ground beef"? Taco Bell never describes anything as "ground beef". The filling is described as "seasoned ground beef" and the beef in it is only referred to as "beef".

Their "seasoning" goes well beyond what any reasonable person would consider seasoning as it contains fillers and extenders which of course goes against FDA and USDA regulations.
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Seasoning cannot contain fillers and extenders if you want to call the resulting product "ground beef". Taco Bell doesn't do that, they call it "seasoned ground beef", so there's no issue.

I would agree that Taco Bell would at least arguably be being deceptive if they listed their ingredients as "beef, water, seasoning" and didn't disclose that the seasoning mixture contained a texture modifier or extender. But they clearly disclose that the seasoning mixture contains oats everywhere they refer to it as "seasoning". This can't be deceptive or fraudulent under ordinary principles because it's clearly disclosed. And no special law prohibits this particular labeling.

The only way this could possibly work out for Taco Bell is the assumption that customers are too stupid to know what "ground beef" actually is and therefore aren't deliberately misleading them.
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I doubt most customers know that ground beef, for example, cannot contain added water. Probably most customers simply don't think about it much. Those that really care can look at the ingredients.

However, there is nothing deceptive about referring to ground beef that has been seasoned as "seasoned ground beef" in a context where customers clearly understand that it's a taco filling.

I find that offensive. It's one thing to go to Taco Bell and make fun of their "ground meat" as being anything but, and it's another for a company to insist "No it really is ground beef, you just don't know any better".
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It really is seasoned ground beef taco filling. Taco Bell claims nothing more than this.
 
daSkeptic said:
Would not the former tend to have a significantly stronger beef flavor?
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You would think so, and in a home kitchen it is true, but commercial food can fool you. For example, they can texture oats to mimic ground beef amazingly well and they can add "natural flavors" to replicate the flavor of beef. It tastes the same, is cheaper, and is better for you.
 
mortimer said:
Can we please, PLEASE, get back to the fact that Taco Bell (not to mention every chain restaurant, and probably every non-chain that serves ground beef) puts stuff in their ground beef? It's really bothering one of the forum members! Think of the children!
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quadraginta said:
Universe's Best Meatloaf (TM)
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See? quadraginta's got it, Meatloaf, not Seasoned Ground Beefloaf. Meatloaf. :rolleyes:
 
JoelKatz said:
I would agree that Taco Bell would at least arguably be being deceptive if they listed their ingredients as "beef, water, seasoning" and didn't disclose that the seasoning mixture contained a texture modifier or extender.
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They did, until the lawsuit came out. This list was made public via the TB website a couple weeks ago.
 
3bodyproblem said:
See? quadraginta's got it, Meatloaf, not Seasoned Ground Beefloaf. Meatloaf. :rolleyes:
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Well, it had ground beef in it, too. Seasoned.

...and sausage.

... and onion, and egg, and ...

With bacon on top. Lots of bacon.

If Taco Bell has anywhere near as much ground beef in their taco filling as that meatloaf then they're still gonna win the case hands down. They only need more than 40%. Right?
 
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