FitSugar

Is Taco Bell's Christine the New Jared?

FitSugar — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:00:37 -0800

Taco Bell has repackaged its "fresco-style" menu - which has been around since 2003 - as the new "Drive-Thru Diet." The new ad campaign touts the company's "healthier" menu, featuring items that contain nine grams of fat or less. And in a move that mimics the Subway/Jared pairing, Taco Bell has a newly slimmed spokesperson touting the benefits of the Drive-Thru Diet. Enter Christine Dougherty, an attractive young lady pushing the diet alongside her success story of losing 54 pounds in two years.

To see the commercial, read more.

Unfortunately, the commercials are a bit misleading. If you read the many disclaimers on the Taco Bell site and the lack of details surrounding Christine's story, it becomes clear that it's not really a diet at all - at least not one that can solely account for her weight loss. Christine claims that she lost the weight by cutting her daily calorie intake by 500 calories and other "sensible choices." Here's the thing, the fresco-style menu isn't that different than its regular menu, calorie-wise. Instead of that small sprinkling of cheese, you get salsa, which saves you roughly 75 calories or so per item.

Unlike Jared Fogle, the man behind the Subway diet, Christine never comes out and says she ate nothing but Taco Bell's fresco-style menu. If anything, she maybe chose a fresco item over a regular menu item when she had a hankering for fast food. I'm thinking it was these "sensible choices" that she made, which helped her drop the weight - keep that in mind before you run out to Taco Bell and subsist on nothing but its burritos and chimichangas.

Quiz: Taco Bell's Volcano Taco

FitSugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0700

I had so much fun quizzing you all on Wendy's Baconator, I thought I'd "think outside the bun" for this quiz. Taco Bell's menu features a new item, the Volcano Taco. It comes with lava cheese sauce and a red hot colored taco shell. Let's see how this fiery item measures up nutritionally.

Take the quiz

Free Taco Alert (WTF?)

FitSugar — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:30:00 -0700

Have you heard about Taco Bell's "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotion? This Tex-Mex chain announced that if any player stole a base during a game in the World Series, they'd give everyone in America a free crunchy seasoned beef taco.

Well, since Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox stole a base in the fourth inning of the second game, now anyone in America can show up at their local taco Bell on Tuesday, October 30, and get one free taco (between 2-5 pm).

Who doesn't love free stuff? Free is fabulous, and I'm a sucker for free giveaways, but just because something is free, doesn't mean it's healthy for you. Just out of curiosity, want to know how much saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium that free taco will get you? Then read more

Well I have to say that I'm quite surprised. I
was expecting this taco to be ridiculously
unhealthy. It is a little high in sodium, but it
actually has 3g of fiber, 8g of protein and NO
trans fat. The only problem is that I don't think
many people will eat just one of these tacos
(it's more like two or three). I guess when it
comes to food (even when it's free) moderation
is a good idea to keep in mind.

Taco Bell is one smart cookie, or maybe I should say "churro." When baseball fans collect their free taco, chances are they'll buy something else and the company won't lose much money. I'm sure Taco Bell is also hoping to hook some new customers to their irresistible cheesy food.

Doesn't it seem kind of ironic though, that sports teams are collaborating with fast food joints? The baseball players are working out, training, and exercising their butts off, and America is reaping the benefits in the form of tacos. I know networks need to make their money through advertisements, but couldn't they have chosen something that's a little more healthy? What do you think about Taco Bell's marketing scheme?

Road Tripping: Find the Food with Fewer Calories

FitSugar — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:30:00 -0700

Here's the scenario: You are out on a road trip with your friends so you are eating a lot of fast food. You are also watching your weight and counting calories.

When it comes to ordering fast food you want to choose the option with fewer calories....

Take the quiz

Trans Fat Keeps Getting Worse and Worse...

FitSugar — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 04:00:00 -0700

As if trans fat are not bad enough for you, new research out of the Harvard School of Public Health has upped the stakes at how bad it really is.

Women who eat diets rich in trans fats (3.6 grams or more per day) have three times the risk of heart disease as those who don't (2.5 grams or less per day). While research had already proven trans fat is a major contributor to heart disease, the Harvard study includes an objective measure of trans fat intake (trans fat levels in red blood cells) rather than just relying on dietary information reported from participants.

As a reference point, a small order of McDonald's fries has 3.5 grams of trans fat, as does a Mexican Pizza from Taco Bell.

To ensure you're not getting a load of trans fat in your diet, check labels and look for 0 grams of trans fat AND make sure there is no hydrogenated oils listed in the ingredients.

Taco Bell Breakdown

FitSugar — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 09:15:00 -0800

Everyone has made a run for the border at some point or another. To make sure you're prepared for your next trip to Taco Bell, I've broken down some of the popular menu items.

You should probably stick to the Crunchy Taco's Fresco Style (no cheese) as one has 150 calories, 7 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 360 mg of sodium and 14 grams of carbs. (*The soft taco fresco style weighs in with 190 calories)

You could also go for the Chicken Gordita Fresco Style which has 230 calories, 6 grams of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 570 mg of sodium and 29 grams of carbs.

You definitely do not want to get the Fiesta Taco Salad as it packs in 860 calories, 46 grams of fat, 5 grams of trans fat, 1800 mg of sodium and 82 grams of carbs. (*The salad without the shell still has 490 calories!)

Fit's Tip: Watch out for condiments like sour cream and baja style sauce, they will pack on the extra calories!

Olive Garden is Making Us Sick Too!

FitSugar — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:45:14 -0800

Here we go again...

Three people have been hospitalized and more than 300 people claimed they became ill (nausea, vomiting, fever and diarrhea) after eating at an Indiana Olive Garden restaurant last weekend on Indianapolis' north side.

No word on the cause but so far health officials are sayings it is not E. coli which has wrecked havoc on Taco Bell's and Taco Johns' customers.

I'll let you know what happens but until then, since mainstream restaurants are making us sick, check out YumSugar.com for great recipes so you can cook (and eat) at home.

Taco Hell Continued

FitSugar — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0800

Just as I thought the Taco Bell Hell was coming to a hault, new reports are claiming that the E. coli contamination was not found in the green onions, as originally suspected, but possibly in the lettuce. While findings are not final, they are also looking at the cheese and ground beef.

While the lettuce is served in approximately 70 percent of all Taco Bell menu items, thought is that they should probably just focus on everything at this point.

White onions were also suspect at one point and health officials found the produce was contaminated with E. coli, but the strain was not the same as the one identified in the wider outbreak. Gross.

Interestingly enough, officials are still saying that the Taco Bell outbreak does not have anything to do with the Taco John E. coli outbreak.

As of Wednesday evening, the Center for Disease Control had reported 71 confirmed cases of E. coli infection in five states. New Jersey had 33 confirmed cases; New York had 22; Pennsylvania had 13, Delaware had two, and South Carolina had one.

Moral of the story? Stay away from taco joints right now.

...More Taco Hell

FitSugar — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0800

OK so I hate to be a buzz kill, but I think it may be in your best interest to stop eating at fast food taco joints for the time being.

Taco John's, the self proclaimed fresh taste of the west-mex, has a reported "possible" E. coli scare as three dozen people became ill after eating at a Taco John's restaurant in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The symptoms seem to follow suit with those that come from consuming the E.coli bacteria and many people have been hospitalized. While we wait to find out if it was really E. coli that was making everyone sick, all suspected food ingredients have been removed from the menu and the restaurant has been sanitized.

Interestingly enough, Taco John's is not at all affiliated with Taco Bell, who has been battling their own E. coli issues.

Fit's Tip: Seriously gang, if you need a taco fix then try making your own tacos at home right now. They are easy to make, way better for you and a lot less likely to contain E.coli than those you'll get at a fast food joint.

Taco Hell

FitSugar — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 09:46:05 -0800

Taco Bell has recently announced that they will be taking out the trans fat, but maybe they should have focused on taking out the E. coli before thinking about the trans fat.

There have been 27 confirmed cases of E. coli in New Jersey, and many more listed as possible infections among people who ate at Taco Bell during the last two weeks of November. In New York (Long Island), there have been at least 25 reported cases of infection. Four new cases have been reported in Pennsylvania. More to come, I'm sure -- It looks like Taco Bell is giving Spinach a run for its money.

In a prepared statement, Taco Bell said:

As a precautionary measure, Taco Bell has thrown out all existing food and is bringing in new food. In addition, the company has completely cleaned and re-sanitized the restaurants, utensils and all cooking equipment.

Fit's Tip: Since the E. coli bacterium can be found in ground beef, it is recommended that you (this includes you, Taco Bell) cook ground beef and hamburger thoroughly. If you're cooking a hamburger patty, the innermost part should read at least 160 degrees. If you don't have a meat thermometer, you can decrease your risk of illness by not eating ground beef patties that are still pink in the middle.