Mysterious Vanishing Food: Beef and Blueberries

Source: Taco Bell

In 1984, Clara Peller angrily asked “Where’s the beef?” in a series of Wendy’s commercials.

Twenty-seven years later Amanda Obney, Taco Bell customer, once again asks, “Where’s the beef?” She’s not only asking, she’s suing.

According to the suit filed by the Alabama law firm Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, the YUM-brands owned chain is using a meat mixture that contains binders and extenders, and does not meet the minimum requirements set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be labeled as “beef.”

Attorney Dee Miles said the meat mixture contained just 35% beef, with the remaining 65% containing water, wheat oats, soy lecithin, maltodrextrin, anti-dusting agent, and modified corn starch. Hmmm… that’s about 2/3 fillers and 1/3 beef!

Source: General Mills

It’s not only beef that has gone missing, the blueberries are gone too!

Pictures of blueberries are prominently displayed on the front of many food packages. Here they are on boxes of muffins, cereals and breads. But turn the packages around, and suddenly the blueberries disappear. They’re gone, replaced in the ingredients list with sugars, oils and artificial colors derived from petrochemicals.

A bag of blueberry bagels sold at Target stores is made with blueberry bits. And while actual blueberries are found further down the ingredients list, the blueberry bits themselves don’t even contain bits of blueberries. They’re made entirely from sugar, corn cereal, modified food starch, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, artificial flavor, cellulose gum, salt and artificial colors like Blue #2, Red #40, Green #3 and Blue #1.

What’s missing from that list? Well, blueberries. Here’s Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, on the trail of those elusive blueberries.