How Bad Is Taco Bell REALLY?
In this investigative YouTube video, Bryan Johnson revisits Taco Bell after a 20‑year hiatus to examine the most popular menu items and expose the hidden ingredients and health hazards of ultra‑processed fast food. He samples items such as the Crunchwrap Supreme, Mexican Pizza, Nacho Fries, Doritos Locos Tacos, various burritos, and the Baja Blast drink, describing sensory reactions while detailing the presence of high sodium, aluminum, artificial dyes (Yellow 5, 6, Red 40), preservatives (calcium propionate, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate), carcinogenic compounds (nitrosamines, HCA), saturated fats, trans‑fat‑containing hydrogenated oils, and massive sugar loads. Johnson links these components to risks including cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hyperactivity, and antibiotic‑resistant microbiomes. He also critiques Taco Bell’s corporate structure—part of Yum Brands, historically tied to PepsiCo—highlighting uniform supply chains across KFC, Pizza Hut, and the brand’s aggressive marketing to children that fosters addiction through dopamine loops. Throughout, he juxtaposes nostalgic memories with a critical, almost moral stance, concluding with a strong call to avoid ultra‑processed fast food, offering alternatives, and urging viewers to hold such corporations accountable.
Chapters
Doritos. Tacos. Regular or supreme? Supreme, baby. Let's go all the way. I'm here at Taco Bell. I'm about to order the most popular items off the menu to learn exactly what's in the food and what these weird ingredients are doing to our bodies. Over half of what the US Eats every day is from ultra processed foods. It's not even really food. That's right. It's not food. Americans are not winning their battle against obesity. American capitalism, the greatest economic engine of all time, pointed its powers at not to feed us, but to addict us. Oh, my God. Ew. That's disgusting. Right now, I'm doing something crazy. I'm on my way to Taco Bell. As a kid, we did midnight runs at Taco Bell, and I've not set off in destination to Taco Bell for probably 20 years. So this is like teenager Brian getting ready to go out and get some Taco Bell. Let's go in the grab bag. What's gonna come out? What is this guy? Is. Is this the Crunch Wrap Supreme? There's an awful lot of oil seeping outside of this packaging. It weighs. It's really heavy. The design is kind of cool, though, how they bring in the tortilla and then, like, cook it. I remember as a kid, I was like, I like that browning. It's like a blooming is a flower. To see that the smell doesn't immediately scream fast food, it's like what you would expect at any kind of Mexican restaurant. All right, now I guess the question is, what's hiding in this seemingly innocuous food? All right, so first, this has processed beef emulsifiers and a ton of sodium. The tortilla wrap is loaded with aluminum, 2.6 milligrams in the outer wrap alone. A study of 1,000, 925 people over 15 years found that ingesting more than 0.1 milligrams of aluminum through drinking water was associated with cognitive decline, Alzheimer's, and dementia. That means if you ate one wrap a day, that would be 26 times the amount of aluminum that was referenced in this study for dementia risk. When I had McDonald's in my hands, you feel repulsed. Like, you feel. Feel the oil. You feel like you can smell the processed nature of it. But Taco Bell has this aroma, which does induce you to think that it's somehow better and not slipping into bad ingredients. But then the dangerous thing is they're hiding inside the food, inside that aroma. All right, next up, let's go to this bag all right, well, the box got a little smashed. You can see the oil has totally seeped through. Oh, so much of it got stuck on the top. Okay, so Taco Bell got into the pizza business. There's something very unusual going on at Taco Bell. Something you wouldn't expect. We're making pizza, Mexican pizza. I don't know about this. What's. What's even. What is this? What is going on? Oh, my gosh. That's disgusting. That is really bad. I mean, that. That's really. That's a bad odor. Let's figure out what's in this guy. So first, the combination of beef and cheese and heat leads to the creation of nitrosamines and hca. These are compounds that are potentially carcinogenic and have been shown to cause damage in DNA. DNA damage is a major pathway for aging, cancer, neurodegeneration, and chronic disease. Yes. This pizza also has calcium fat propionate. This preservative can exacerbate behavioral disorders, irritability, and ADHD in children. Okay, I'm so happy to be done with this guy and move it away from me. I want to throw it away. My opinion of Taco Bell when I was younger is I didn't understand the ways of the world in that. I didn't realize they were scheming. I thought they're just putting together a menu of items, giving people low cost food. And now that I've seen behind the curtain as an adult, I view them as inherently an amoral company that they profit off of people's addiction, food addictions, and health demise. And I really do see them as nefarious actors that they would probably rationalize and say we're just giving people what they want. And I don't accept that as a justification for their existence. So I do think they really are a menace to society in. In really fundamental ways that makes society worse. All right, let's see. These are Taco Bell nacho fries. Okay, so these are the large nacho fries. Actually, it looks like the potato is pretty sad. McDonald's has a nice, clean, narrow, skinny fry. This guy. I'm not sure they went as high quality, but similar situation, a lot of oil. It's actually like a Dorito made as a fry. You take all the bad in the world and you, like, mix and match it. Like, oh, can you imagine the meetings they have? Like, okay, here's the whiteboard of, like, the 10 most destructive foods known for human. What if we combine this one and this one? A Dorito fried. That's amazing. They go to. They go to lunch. It's like, nancy, great job. Like you. Really? That was a banger idea. Okay, what's in these guys? These are fried starch, heavily dyed in cheese powder and loaded with sodium. And how much is that relative to what you should consume on a daily basis? 75%. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse. Apparently this comes with some kind of cheese sauce that won't even move in the container. It's stuck. It's like play Doh. So let's see. Let's open this up and see what happens. Oh, man, look at that, you guys. This is insane. Fried starch, dried cheese in some kind of. I don't know what kind of call this sauce yellow something. This is like a triple deck layer death, in my opinion. My hands are getting very messy. I just need to deal with it. So this is what they gave me. But you know what, they get it. Like with this many orders, he's like, that's a lot of grease to clean up. For people who love Taco Bell, I understand you. I too loved Taco Bell. I remember so clearly the. The dopamine you get and then eat it. And you have that same kind of experience. No matter how many times you feel sick after eating Taco Bell, it still doesn't stop you from wanting it and experiencing the anticipatory dopamine, which is really weird. It traps you into this odd self harm loop. Whoa. I've actually. That's actually. I'm gonna cry. This is a Doritos Locos tacos. Okay, what's going on here? Yeah, just like a big Dorito chip at this point. It's pretty soggy. Let's see. All right, let's go back and talk to Brian, who is 16 years old, and tell him what's in this and how he may want to change his plans for lunch. The first is full of artificial flavoring systems that are designed to keep you hungry. Second, these colors don't naturally happen. This taco contains dyes like yellow 5, yellow 6, and, and red 40. It has been found to carry benzadine contamination, a Group 1 carcinogen which is known to cause cancer. It's like they're trying to kill us, in my opinion. All right, well, this guy is out of commission. He's clearly falling apart and not up to the job at all. It's the show, baby. So here's what most people don't realize. Taco Bell is not an independent company. It's part of the same corporation that owns KFC and Pizza Hut. Yum Brands. Different logos, but the same supply chain technology and marketing tricks. You might think you're choosing between tacos, pizza and fried chicken, but really you're just choosing which door to walk through into the same factory. And the rabbit hole goes deeper. Have you noticed there's no Coke at Taco Bell? That's because Yum Brands used to be owned by Pepsico. They split off in the 90s, but PepsiCo never really left. As part of the deal, Yum Brands signed a long term exclusive beverage contract with Pepsico. So no matter what drink you order at Taco Bell, PepsiCo is getting a cut. Taco Bell back tacos or burritos and a medium drink. Get a free Blockbuster Video. Here we go. All up in there. Dude, that looks unreal. Here we go. Next up, beefy five layer burrito. Let's see. That's pretty beefy. You could like throw this at someone, right? You could hurt someone. It's like a brick. All right. Oh, it's got this cheese. The same cheese they paired with the fries? Yeah. Just smells like sour cream. Bean burrito. Again, you pull up and you're like, this may not be that bad. Let's see what's inside. Okay, first of all, let's talk about Taco Bell's long, weird history with beef. How many ingredients are in beef? I think beef. But how many ingredients are in Taco Bell's beef? Here's the latest list of ingredients we could find for their seasoned beef. I don't think that's beef. Now let's forgive them for the horse meat scandal where some of their beef contained more than 10% horse DNA. That happened in Europe. Could horse meat be in our meat supply here in the U.S. you know, it's. It's possible. The biggest issue right now with Taco Bell's beef, even though it's like 40 ingredient beef, is the antibiotics. According to the Natural resources Defense Council 2019 Chain Reaction v report, Taco Bell received a D grade because its commitment to reduce antibiotic use. Its beef supply was considered too modest and slow to effectively address the public health issue of antibiotic resistance. The antibiotics in this beef can damage your microbiome and even lead to antibiotic resistance in your microbiome. And if things couldn't get worse, it has 1,290 milligrams of sodium. Now, this is almost maxing you out at what the American Heart association says is reasonable for consumption on any given day. So you maybe say, Brian, what's the Big deal. With sodium. Horses lick salt. Why can't I? Well, sodium increases blood volume, which puts pressure on your blood vessels. All right, let's lay this guy down. All right, what are we doing next? Oh, my God. Baja Blast at Taco Bell. Next up is the Baja blast. This has 111 grams of sugar. That is, I think, 28 sugar cubes. And this guy. It's a miracle. It's actually liquid. You're just drinking straight sugar. It is high fructose corn syrup, the most processed sugar you can get. I mean, it smells good, though. I mean, it takes you back to when you were a kid. Like, you want that smell. Summer drink to quench the thirst. It's hot outside, you're playing with your friends, and you want a delicious drink. I mean, it has all the characteristics. It's going to, like, cause diabetes almost immediately, in my opinion. Now, honestly, on a daily basis, you should aim for 20 grams or less. Better to have none at all. This guy again, 111, almost five times. Plus, what is in a reasonable amount of sugar consumption? What? What? The colors are definitely off, right? You would think this is like some place in the Bahamas where you've got blue. Like water fish are swimming around. This is a synthetic dye. Definitely not doing your body any favors. This is Blue one and Yellow five. Taco Bell has claimed they're getting rid of artificial flavors and colors and replacing them with natural alternatives. But they still serve Baja blast with blue one and yellow five and Doritos local tacos with yellow five, yellow six and red 40. And they still have artificial flavors like MSG, disodium, inosinate and guanylate. These can be found in several of their products. Their healthy claims are really just marketing bs. We've been on a long journey of reducing sodium, cleaning up our labels, getting rid of artificial colors and flavors. We got rid of trans fats. She must have drawn the short stick to go out publicly and say these things. Aquabelle's Cheesy Gordita Crunch. It's cheesy. It's crunchy, it's chewy. I can't accept that. Why not? It's not real money. Well, that's not a real break. The cheese. Gordita Crunch. Soft outer layer. You've got a inner hard layer. Yeah. You know, this smells exactly like I remember it smelling 20 years ago. Okay, so this guy has 11 grams of saturated fat, as much as a Big Mac. High saturated fat intake is causally linked to coronary narrowing. This means it can raise your risk of a Heart attack. So next time you take a bite, imagine you could literally be narrowing your arteries with every crunch. This also has calcium propionate, which has been linked to decreased attention, sleep disturbance, and hyperactivity in children. The spicy ranch sauce has sodium benzoate as a preservative, another culprit in exasperating hyperactivity in children, as shown by a study that had 153 three year olds and 144 eight and nine year olds. It's such a disastrous situation because they've done an absolutely phenomenal job at making addiction so fun. Weirdly. And you do it. You hate yourself doing it, but then you do it again. You can't stop yourself. And they just. You have to give it to them. They really are clever. The new soft taco supreme. Hello, Taco Bell. A little hot sauce came with this? Sure, why not? Oh, these guys. They're so evil. This is a cute little guy. Oh, no, it's not. No, it's not. This is a naughty. This is the spicy potato soft taco. I do not think they had this. They basically said fries sell really well at fast food. Let's put the fries inside the taco. Brilliant, Nancy. Two in the day. Damn. All right, what's going on here? It has 28 grams of refined carbohydrates, which is definitely gonna spike your blood glucose. It also has hydrogenated oils, which have trans fats. This creates risk for cardiovascular disease, inflammation, and even some cancers. It also has many of the same. The same additives found in other Taco Bell products, including sodium metabisulfite. This is inflammatory and linked to allergic reactions. Benzoate, which is linked to intolerance and increased hyperactivity, especially in children. Next up, And this is a bean burrito from Taco Bell. Let's see if Bubba wants a bean burrito gone. All right, this is the cheesy bean and rice burrito. I think this was when I. I got this guy. And what I would do is I do that. I take a hot sauce packet, put it on like this. Man, this really does make me time travel. I remember this so vividly. We kind of lived off of Taco Bell, come to think of it. Yeah, man, I just did one sauce, but they gave me 30. Okay, so this is their vegetarian option, which surely means it's the more healthy option, right? What do we expect? We're dealing with Taco Bell. Okay, so here are the scariest things in this guy. First, they've got hydrogenated oils, which are linked to cardiovascular disease and vascular Dysfunction, as well as increased inflammation and multiple cancers. It also has sodium metabisulfite, which triggers oxidative stress, inflammation, asthma, and allergic reactions. Okay, you guys, this is kind of insane. This preservative kills or harms normal human cells in lab dishes. Also, I think that Taco Bell has focused on being very good at marketing to kids. You know, McDonald's, of course, has their Happy Meals and their toys. Taco Bell has done a lot of marketing towards children as well and getting kids to ask their parents to take them to Taco Bell and for teenagers to make it their spot, just like I did with my friends. So they definitely know what they're doing in starting the addiction early. When you're not. As a kid, you're not quite sure where the food falls. Oh, my goodness. We have one more item. The chicken quesadilla. But, guys, it's not. Oh, it is here. It was at the bottom. I didn't think it was here. Look at this. It looks like the bottom of a paper bag sitting atop 30 little things of hot sauce. Okay, so the chicken quesadilla is here. I thought that they were missing it. Okay, let's look inside. Oh, split in half. I'm gonna. I'm gonna rip this open. All right. Yep. I'm very familiar with this guy. This has been a staple of the menu for a very long time. Yep. Chicken quesadilla. All right, let's talk about what's inside this guy. The chicken quesadilla has 13 grams of saturated fats. That's the maximum daily recommendation from the American Heart Association. Saturated fat has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and fatty liver disease. Also, it has 1250 milligrams of sodium, which is 83% of the daily recommended amount. And no surprise, the tortilla is full of calcium propionate and aluminum. Now, remember, this causes irritability and lack of focus in children. Let's not forget about the delectable jalapeno sauce, which has potassium sorbate. This potentially has mutagenic genotoxic properties in human immune cells. Why Taco Bell? Why do you do this to us? And now for the big reveal. Why not cinnamon twists? I'm sorry. I couldn't stop myself. This has not changed. I mean, this is the same guy we had 30 years ago. Identical. Yeah. I mean, I like these. These are nice, right? It's like you. You eat them, and you're thinking, they can't be that bad, right? Pretty lightweight. A sprinkle of sugar and some cinnamon isn't Cinnamon. Good for you. You know what's just a small bag? I mean, I remember thinking, not bad. It could be a lot worse. All right, let's go back and tell Brian what he's eating. I'm really apprehensive to hear it. These bad boys come in at just 170 calories but smuggle 10 grams of added sugar. I get it. We all get those sugar cravings. But if you can reserve your sugar budget for healthier, more nutritious options like honey and polyphenol rich fruits. Second, they are deep fried. This is not a baked situation. Deep frying these carbohydrates extra expose you to potential cancer and dementia causing compounds. Now also, the seed oil they're using to fry these is heated over and over again. This creates toxic age which leads to accelerated aging and cellular damage, including very visible skin aging. You guys, I am on your team. I am the loudest voice in your mind. You do not eat this garbage. You are better than that. You can find other ways to nourish yourself. You will be happier. You will achieve self respect and you will reclaim yourself. Do not let these guys in your life. They are a terrible influence on everything you want and that is good and virtuous in this world. We've now completed Taco Bell. If you want to know what's inside of McDonald's, check out this video and let me know in the comments who we should review next. All right, now if you're saying, all right, Brian, I'm open to eating something else, watch this video to learn what I eat on a daily basis. Also, let me know what other food establishment you want me to take down.
