TACO BELL, PIZZA HUT GOING MORE NATURAL

Taco Bell and Pizza Hut are the latest restaurant chains to get rid of artificial colors and flavors. Instead of “black pepper flavor,” for instance, Taco Bell will start using actual black pepper in its seasoned beef, says Liz Matthews, the chain’s chief food innovation officer. Also, the artificial dye Yellow No. 6 will be removed from its nacho cheese, Blue No. 1 will be removed from its avocado ranch dressing and carmine, a bright pigment, will be removed from its red tortilla strips. Matthews said some of the new recipes are being tested in select markets and should be in stores nationally by the end of the year.
* Next they’re going to use actual seasoned beef in their seasoned beef.
* The red tortilla chips will now be called “vaguely red-ish tortilla chips”.
* If we got all the way up to Yellow No. 6, imagine how bad Yellow 1 through 5 must have been.
* “Yellow No. 6 was a real breakthrough in diarrhea- and migraine-free food coloring.”
* Why bother? If you’re eating this kind of food, you’re way past health concerns already.
* Chief Food Innovation Officer? Give me a break with that.
* Just go make me a pizza and shut up.
* Nutrition experts have calculated that these changes will add a good twenty minutes to the average life span.