It’s not too late to enter the Weight Watchers Sweet Baked Goods Giveaway! You have until Friday at 12:00 CST.
According to Alabama.com, a woman has filed a lawsuit against Taco Bell in which she asks for no money, but rather acknowledgment that the “beef” Taco Bell uses does not meet federal standards for beef. The lawsuit states that the beef filling the restaurants use in it’ tacos and other restaurant items has “water, isolated oat product, wheat oats, soy lecithin, maltodrextrin, anti-dusting agent, autolyzed yeast extract, modified corn starch and sodium phosphate.”
The Food and Drug Administration says” Chopped beef, ground beef. “Chopped Beef” or “Ground Beef” shall consist of chopped fresh and/or frozen beef with or without seasoning and without the addition of beef fat as such, shall not contain more than 30 percent fat, and shall not contain added water, phosphates, binders, or extenders. I don’t know about you, but it seems like the food label lists quite a few things other than beef – but then Taco Bell doesn’t call it meat – they call it “Taco Meat Filling”. . . . .
Well, I don’t know who is right in all of this, but it did give me yet another reason to severely limit the number of times I eat at restaurants. You may not know this about me – but years ago, I worked in a fast food restaurant at the mall. I will spare you the gory details, but what went on in the back room wasn’t pretty.
Between the sodium, the calories, the questionable cleanliness of some restaurants and the expense, I’m not sure that eating out is worth the cost.
Worth the cost financially and worth the cost to my health and that of my family. A 2009 survey estimated that Americans spend over 40 percent of our food dollars on food away from the house – both in bars and restaurants. That’s a large chunk of change – over $2,610 dollars per family, per year.
While I did go out to eat during and after the time I lost weight, over the years I’ve greatly reduced the number of times my family eats out. Part of it is financial, but a larger part is due to unwillingness of restaurants to stop adding so much sodium into the food that even one restaurant meal or value-sized combo meal can put you over the 1,500 mg recommendation. I don’t want my dollars to go towards the oversalting of America – or the filling of America with meat that isn’t meat.
How do you feel about restaurant meals? I realize there are restaurants in many places that offer healthy, real choices. But for every one of those, I’d wager there are 20 that offer inexpensive, unhealthy foods that we pay a premium for – financially and with our health.
Thanks for letting me rant a bit on this snowy Wednesday! Diane
We rarely eat fast foods, but do have a weekly “date night” on Monday evenings when my husband has an evening commitment. We tried patronizing our local establishments, but have found they don’t want to publish nutrition data, so we’ve settled back into the old stand-bys, so I can make my choices ahead of time with online information. If I had my way and it fit our schedule, we’d never eat in a restaurant again. Like you say, we’ve known an executive chef and his stories make your stomach churn!!
Sharon´s last fabulous musings ..A Matter of Perspective
I don’t feel good about the quality of resturant meals. You think your choosing to eat healthy and your not. When you eat out you have no control over the ingredients that go into food. Plus the portions are WAY to big!! I try never to eat out and yes sometimes I get tired of cooking but its better than the alternative.
Yuck! I wonder what’s in chicken nuggets! I don’t eat out all that much and actually, I tend to worry more about the germs. Crazy me.
Karen´s last fabulous musings ..I Only Look Normal
When I was growing up, we hardly ever ate out (maybe two to three times a year!) as my mom didn’t trust restaurant food. I really didn’t get her point for a long time and envied my friends who would frequently go out for fast food, pizza, or Chinese food. And I had my rebellious eating out phase when I left home (not proud of it…).
But today I agree with her. I really like to know what I’m eating, and I just don’t know for sure when I’m eating out. An “innocent” sounding dish, can be full of calories, fat, and salt. And even when the nutrition information is provided, I don’t know where the ingredients came from.
Andrea@WellnessNotes´s last fabulous musings ..Pomelos and Massaged Kale With a Korean Twist
I saw this Diane – UGH! I don’t eat out because for one, I am never really comfortable with what might go on in the back kitchen where I can’t see.. I like to control my own food & as we know, all studies show that the more you eat out, the harder it is to lose weight & keep it off… yes, financial too but I just rather eat my own food!
Rant away!
Jody – Fit at 53´s last fabulous musings ..Diet Craziness! 500 Calories a Day-REALLY!
We still take our family out to eat once a week, and sometimes I stop for something small for myself when I’ve finished up a morning of errands. I journal all of it as best I can and I’m really proud of the fact that I’m learning to stop when I’m satisfied instead of feeling the need to finish the large servings often served.
As for the quality of what’s being served? I know it’s not always the best food out there, but it really doesn’t bother me.
Leah´s last fabulous musings ..Sweet Cravings & Exercise
I was not as shocked at the 30 percent level of meat in the Taco filling, as I was at the US allowable level of 40 percent to be called, “all meat!”
I’ve known for a while that beef fat is added to many fast food products.
I’ve never eaten at Taco Bell for this very reason, but it was more of a hunch. But, really, it’s pretty gross when you think about it. I bet there are plenty of other restaurants who use equally as sketchy meat products. I kind of don’t want to think about it and I kind of can’t stop.
Tracey @ I’m Not Superhuman´s last fabulous musings ..Tea Bag Pep Talk
Did you ever read the David Kessler book about the American food industry and how it tries to get us to eat more and more??? (Book title is “The End of Overeating”)I recently finished it and it is crazy – really makes me never want to go to a restaurant again.
Amy in Belgium´s last fabulous musings ..Four days left!
I too limit how often I eat out, and when I do I avoid fast food places like the plague. Taco Bell has grossed me out for a long time, but this latest story pretty much caps it. I will never eat a single morsel from that place. Yuck.
Desert Agave´s last fabulous musings ..An Ode to Brenda
We love going out to eat and trying new restaurants. It’s a treat, not a daily thing. I don’t consider Taco Bell a treat though. More like a last resort if I were starving and there was nothing else available.
We eat out once a week. We love ethnic places like Indian and Vietnamese restaurants and I just can’t make these dishes taste right at home. I try to control my portions and guess the nutritional information. I try not to think about what goes on in the kitchen. We never visit fast food places.
Interesting topic!
I think since me and hubby started our healthy journey, that we opt for restaurants that are approved by The Heart Foundation here in SA. They don’t use butter on the buns, dry buns with little or no sauce and flamed grill instead of fried.
Yes, I agree, you do get other restaurants which does not hold these standards and their meals are unhealthy.
blackhuff´s last fabulous musings ..Feelings and exercising
One of the reasons I am so glad to have finally left my job is that we don’t have to eat fast food or convenience food anymore. We still love going out on a Sunday, but then we opt for slow-food, usually authentic ethnic restaurants.
Hanlie´s last fabulous musings ..A Place You Go to Heal Your Hurt
I work long hours so it is hard to always have home cooked meals. I’ve found ways to cook at home much more than I used to because of all of the things you mentioned in your blog post. I use my crock pot a lot and have a pretty good selection of meals I can whip up quickly. It saves us money and I know the calorie count and quality of what I’m eating.
We eat out about once a week, but usually at local, non-fast-food restaurants (and I just realized that at the ones we patronize more frequently they cook the food in front of you).
Siobhan´s last fabulous musings ..addendum …
I’ll admit, before I made this lifestyle change I was slowly killing myself and my family with fast food choices. However, since making this change I’ve really looked into what goes into fast food meals and I find it repulsive. This information was certainly available to me pre-change but I didn’t seek it out nor did I want to face that I was feeding my family and myself garbage.
Now, it is a rare occasion that we eat away from home. There are those times, as many busy families have, that we have to just grab something. But, we try to select the “best of the bad” with an understanding that it is not an everyday occurrence.
As far as Taco Bell and the non-meat, meat – I truly feel these restaurants should be held to some standards for quality control.
Elizabeth@Fat Girl Fights Back´s last fabulous musings ..Doughnuts- cookies and cakes oh my!
Thanks for the sparing of gory details.
I think it’s diabolical how much salt and fat goes into a lot of restaurant fare.
I will eat out but only at restaurants that don’t have icky, weird stuff in their food.
‘Drea´s last fabulous musings ..The Interrupter
My restaurant philosophy: no chain restaurants; only go to local restaurants. Most local restaurants use whole, natural, healthier ingredients… chain restaurant food often doesn’t taste that great, anyway!
Sagan´s last fabulous musings ..Plankathon
I prefer home food over the run of the mill chain restaurant. I don’t eat fast food unless we are on vacation and it is the only thing available.