{"id":9919,"date":"2016-11-02T14:00:21","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T18:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=9919"},"modified":"2016-11-01T12:57:27","modified_gmt":"2016-11-01T16:57:27","slug":"taco-bell-vegan-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2016\/11\/02\/taco-bell-vegan-options\/","title":{"rendered":"Taco Bell\u00ae Vegan Options"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taco Bell released an updated version of an online guide titled How to
\nEat Vegetarian and Meatless at Taco Bell:
\nhttps:\/\/www.tacobell.com\/feed\/how-to-eat-veggie in August 2016.<\/a>
\nMissy Nelson, RD of Taco Bell responded to The Vegetarian Resource Group
\nwith more detail about how Taco Bell defines \u201cvegetarian\u201d and \u201cvegan.\u201d
\nShe told us:<\/p>\n

Our definitions are as follows:<\/em><\/p>\n

Lacto-ovo vegetarianism is defined by the practice of eating
\ngrains, pulses, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruits with the use of
\ndairy products and eggs. A vegetarian does not eat any meat, poultry,
\ngame, fish, shellfish or by-products of slaughter. Any material
\ntaken\/extracted\/processed-through from animals, birds, insects, marine
\nanimals, or slaughter by- products such as gelatin, enzymes, animal
\nfats, or bone char are non-vegetarian.<\/p>\n

Ms. Nelson indicated that in addition to the lacto-ovo statement above,
\nvegans do not eat any animal products or byproducts such as honey or
\ningredients processed from fur or feathers.<\/p>\n

Taco Bell told us that items certified as vegetarian or vegan do not
\ncontain sugar that has been processed through bone char. The same sugar
\nisn’t necessarily used for items not certified as vegan or
\nvegetarian.<\/p>\n

The full certified vegetarian menu can be found here
\nhttps:\/\/www.tacobell.com\/food\/vegetarian<\/a>; however, people can customize
\nto fit their specific needs.<\/p>\n

At the bottom of their Vegetarian page Taco Bell posts this disclaimer:<\/p>\n

Taco Bell…offers…AVA-certified vegetarian food items, which
\ndefines vegetarian as lacto-ovo, allowing the consumption of dairy and
\neggs but does not include any animal byproducts. Please note that in
\nsome restaurants we use the same frying oil to prepare menu items that
\nmay or may not contain meat. All vegetarian ingredients are handled by
\nour employees in common with meat ingredients, which may not be
\nacceptable to certain types of vegetarian diets. We cannot guarantee
\nthat cross contact with meat products will not occur…<\/p>\n

On its Ingredient Statements page Taco Bell identifies its AVA-certified
\nvegetarian and AVA-certified vegan ingredients.
\nhttps:\/\/www.tacobell.com\/food\/nutrition\/ingredients<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is a partiallisting of the AVA-certified vegan ingredients:<\/p>\n

black beans
\nfire sauce (hot & mild)
\nexpress nacho chips (regional)
\nfire roasted salsa
\nflour tortilla
\nGordita flatbread
\ngreen chile sauce (regional)
\ngreen tomatillo sauce (regional)
\nMexican pizza sauce
\npico de gallo
\nguacamole
\nLatin rice
\nrainforest coffee
\nred sauce
\nred strips
\nrefried beans
\nsalsa del sol
\ntaco shell
\ntostada shell<\/strong><\/p>\n

In its updated guide linked above Taco Bell lists 11 vegetarian menu
\nitems. Of these as presented, only one is vegan (Black Beans & Rice) but
\nseven others can easily be made vegan by excluding for instance cheese
\nor sour cream:<\/p>\n

1. Black Bean Burrito
\n2. Black Beans & Rice
\n3. Veggie Power Menu Bowl
\n4. Veggie Power Menu Burrito
\n5. Spicy Tostada
\n6. 7-Layer Burrito
\n7. Bean Burrito
\n8. Pintos N Cheese<\/strong><\/p>\n

From Taco Bell’s website it is possible to customize menu options with
\n\u201cTasty Upgrades\u201d many of which are vegan. See:
\nhttps:\/\/www.tacobell.com\/food\/vegetarian<\/a><\/p>\n

Patrons also have the option to \u201cChange What’s Included.\u201d For example on
\nthe Pintos N Cheese page, customers could exclude the cheese and upgrade
\nwith guacamole. The adjusted price reflecting upgrades is calculated
\nautomatically onsite. Deletions of any included components do not result
\nin a reduced final price. See:
\nhttps:\/\/www.tacobell.com\/food\/sides\/pintos-n-cheese<\/a><\/p>\n

The VRG asked Missy for more detail on some of the ingredients in
\ncertain menu items and in the Tasty Upgrades. We learned that the beans,
\nrice and red sauce of the Black Bean Burrito are not prepared with
\nanimal broths or stocks and all of the natural flavors in this burrito
\nare all-vegetable. The monoglycerides and enzymes in the flour tortilla
\nare also non-animal.<\/p>\n

The Veggie Power Menu Burrito lists Mexican pizza sauce as a Tasty
\nUpgrade. Missy told us that its natural flavors are all-vegetable. The
\n\u201cbeans,\u201d also an all-vegetable Tasty Upgrade in both ingredients and
\npreparation, are Taco Bell’s Refried Beans (as listed in the Ingredient
\nStatements.)<\/p>\n

The Spicy Tostada is served on the tostada shell with refried beans.<\/p>\n

Taco Bell further elaborated on their frying oil in their updated online
\nguide:<\/p>\n

In some of our restaurants, we use the same frying oil to prepare
\nmenu items that may or may not contain meat. Therefore, menu items fried
\nin oil like hash browns, chips, cinnamon twists, potatoes and the
\nFiesta taco salad shell are not acceptable to the AVA-certified
\nvegetarian diet because of the potential cross contact.<\/p>\n

There is also a nutrition calculator on Taco Bell’s website. It is
\ndifferent from many in that it allows a patron to adjust portions
\n(doubling for example) and presents the information in a familiar
\nnutrition facts label format:
\nhttps:\/\/www.tacobell.com\/food\/nutrition\/calculator<\/a>
\nOn its Allergen Info page, it is possible to filter out all of the
\nanimal products (eggs, milk, fish and shellfish) to create an
\napproximate vegan filter. See:
\nhttps:\/\/www.tacobell.com\/food\/nutrition\/allergen-info<\/a>
\nVegan consumers should be aware that certain listings using this filter
\nset include hashbrowns, chips and cinnamon twists all of which contain
\nno animal ingredients per se but may have been fried in oil used to
\nprepare meat products. Interestingly the only \u201cVegetarian Menu\u201d entr\u00e9e
\n(excluding side dishes grouped in their own category) which came up was
\nthe Black Beans & Rice dish which means it is the only
\nvegan-to-begin-with entr\u00e9e listed on Taco Bell’s menu. Fresco meat
\ndishes also appeared using this approximate vegan filter since the
\nallergen list does not include meat.<\/p>\n

On its FAQ page the first food-related question and answer:
\nhttps:\/\/www.tacobell.com\/faq<\/a>
\nQ: Does Taco Bell offer vegetarian-friendly options?
\nA: Yes…and people love it! We sell 350 million vegetarian items a year
\nand about 7 percent of all items ordered at Taco Bell are either
\nvegetarian-friendly, or made vegetarian-friendly by some type of
\nsubstitution or removal. Some of our most popular are the classic Bean
\nBurrito, 7-Layer Burrito, Cantina Power Veggie Bowl…Plus, you can
\ncustomize almost any item on our menu by replacing meat with beans.<\/p>\n

Thank you to Jeanne Yacoubou, MS for her research on Taco Bell products.<\/p>\n

The contents of this posting, website and our other publications,
\nincluding Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal
\nmedical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified
\nhealth professional. We often depend on product and ingredient
\ninformation from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure
\nabout a statement, info can change, people have different views, and
\nmistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a
\nproduct is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or
\nconfirmation on your own.<\/p>\n

For more information on restaurant chains, see
\nhttp:\/\/www.vrg.org\/fastfoodinfo.php<\/a>
\nFor information on vegetarian restaurants, see
\nhttp:\/\/www.vrg.org\/restaurant\/index.php<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taco Bell released an updated version of an online guide titled How to Eat Vegetarian and Meatless at Taco Bell: https:\/\/www.tacobell.com\/feed\/how-to-eat-veggie in August 2016. Missy Nelson, RD of Taco Bell responded to The Vegetarian Resource Group with more detail about how Taco Bell defines \u201cvegetarian\u201d and \u201cvegan.\u201d She told us: Our definitions are as follows: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9920,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9919\/revisions\/9920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}