A question was asked by SBF about Taco Bell chicken burrito and it's nutritional value. I looked it up in Cal Counter, the app I use on my phone that helps me keep track of my calorie intake. There are 430 calories, 18 grams of fat, 48 grams carbohydrate, 18 grams protein giving it a "score" in the program of -3.40. I don't know a lot about the scoring system of Cal Counter but I know that anything negatively scored is not a good thing. It measures the balance in these nutritional areas to see if it's worth the calorie intake you're consuming. In this case, Cal Counter says "not worth it".
As far as what's in a Taco Bell Chicken Burrito...Here's something interesting: The USDA doesn't regulate what companies, such as restaurants, can describe to their customers in advertisements as "beef," "chicken" or "meat," says USDA press officer Neil Gaffney. How can you really know if you are you eating chicken? They say it's chicken but that means nothing specific says the USDA! There are 38 ingredients in a McDonald chicken McNugget! WOW! I was not able to find a list of actual preservatives used in the Taco Bell burrito but I'm certain that they are there just like in all fast foods. I've worked at Taco Bell back in the day. It was my first job, and I can confirm that the chicken they use comes in a bag. It's boiled and dumped in a container to throw on the line when it's warm.
Here's all they have to say about their ingredient list on the Taco Bell website for the chicken burrito: A warm, soft flour tortilla filled with our marinated all-white-meat chicken, seasoned rice, creamy avocado ranch sauce and topped with real cheddar cheese. There's no telling what's in there really... I can appreciate the want for it because, well, let's face it.. it's delicious! But, it's not natural, not healthy and unknown.
The taco meat filling that is used at Taco Bell comes in a bag that is boiled and thrown in a metal container similar to the chicken. According to the USDA, "taco meat filling" is required to contain at least 40% fresh meat and must be labeled with the product name, including the word "filling". What the heck is the other 60%?!? You guessed it...pink slime. Yeah.. right into that Taco Bell taco! As of 4 days ago, Taco Bell announced they would discontinue use of pink slime. A step in the right direction! But who knows how many pounds of it we consumed up until now.
On the minimal plus side, although all fast food restaurants are bad, contain artificial ingredients and colors, deep fried foods filled with trans fat, etc., Taco Bell is the better demon if you must choose one in this bloggers opinion. They offer a fresco menu option that has 7 different items on it (including the Chicken Burrito) that are under 9 grams of fat. These items have a pretty high salt to keep in mind though. The fresco items replace cheese with salsa to cut out the fat grams. It does not stop the artificial unknown ingredients from entering your body.
So here is the final answer: Is Taco Bell a healthy alternative to fast food? No, a healthy alternative to fast food would be to make your own chicken burritos from home with wholesome ingredients from the organic section at the grocery store. I'm sure the P90X program has a similar method of getting that chicken burrito too.
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