Thursday, January 27, 2011

Where's the Beef?

Welcome back my friends to another edition of the Quiet Mouse Strikes Back!!
As many of you are already aware, there is a class action lawsuit going on right now over the false advertisement of Taco Bell's taco meat. It is currently labeled as "seasoned beef", although it does NOT meet the current U.S. Department of Agriculture's minimum requirements to be labeled as BEEF.


Before I go any further, this reminds me of the old Wendy's commercials from the 1980's... I am sure some of my readers are too young to remember, so I will illuminate upon this. The commercial goes something like a couple of old ladies are gathered round this HUGE bun with this tiny little patty of meat in the middle and a few trimmings of ketchup and mustard. It was a big campaign slogan at the time to attract business away from pre-cooked burger chains like McDonalds. 


Anyway, thankfully there is no monetary claim being pursued by the lawsuit, only that customers have the right to know what is actually in their food, requesting that it be labeled as "taco meat filler" instead. According to the suit, the "beef" in question is only actually about 35% ground beef, with the other ingredients used as FILLERS including: the remaining 65 percent containing water, wheat oats, soy lecithin, maltodrextrin, anti-dusting agent and modified corn starch.


The main reason for bringing this up is to get people to understand what they are consuming, especially for people 

like myself who have food allergies. I have celiac disease and should not be eating gluten. Wheat oats... BAD! 

soy lecithin... BAD! MODIFIED corn starch... BAD!! And WHAT THE FUCK is an anti-dusting agent???

For those who do not know, here is what soy lecithin is:

Soybean lecithin comes from sludge left after crude soy oil goes through a "degumming" process. It is a waste product containing solvents and pesticides and has a consistency ranging from a gummy fluid to a plastic solid.
One of the biggest problems associated with soy lecithin comes from the origin of the soy itself. The majority of soy sources in the world are now genetically modified (GM). Researchers have clearly identified GM foods as a threat to the environment, pollution of soils and a long-term threat to human health with links to of the world with unnatural genetic material that may have unknown long-term consequences with links to decreased fertility, immunological alterations in the gut and the exacerbation and creation of allergies.

Genetically engineered soy contains high concentrations of plant toxicants. The presence of high levels of toxicants in the GM soy 
represent thousands of plant biochemicals many of which have been shown to have toxic effects on animals.

Maltodextrin is another clever way of saying GLUTEN. It is created using Maltin (a wheat product) and dextrose (sugar) from corn combined with acids, YES acids to create a food stabilizer that adds weight to a product while emuslifying it.

And last but not least, modified corn starch. People with celiac disease should also try to avoid this pitfall of empty calories that doesn't even have to be made from corn... huh?? YEP, it  can also be made from wheat, potato, rice, or tapioca. YUMMY!!
The point being that by itself corn starch is NOT bad for us, but when they MODIFY it and treat it with harmful chemicals, well, then it isn't so good for us after all. It among other products mentioned in this list are used to EXTEND the shelf life of the product. 

The point I am trying to get at here is to question what you put in your mouth. YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!! after all. READ THE LABELS. If you DON"T KNOW what it is... chances are you shouldn't be putting that in your body. As always, I encourage my readers to do their own research, but in the end, the only food worth consuming comes from MOTHER NATURE, UNADULTERATED and NON-GENETICALLY MODIFIED!!

YOU make the decision for yourself, but ME personally, I don't see much of Taco Bell in MY future. I'm going back to my Jack Lalanne juicer... may THAT good man rest in peace.

This has been the Quiet Mouse once again. 
Think. Love. Respect. Evolve.


1 comment:

  1. Wow! Jack was near 100. There is a good reason. He probably never put that crap in his body.
    I'm surprised you never had an attack after eating that stuff. Maybe that is a reason you can use Taco Bell as a laxative. It's funny how they use this mixture, which shouldn't cost too much, and they put a THIN STRIP of the stuff in the taco. Then they pile lettuce and cheese on it. It's terrible. I think that we should know what we're eating, but sadly, that won't stop people from eating there. People are gluttons for punishment.

    ReplyDelete

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