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Taco Bell Boldly Announces Plans to Get Healthy by 2020

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Photo: mikebeard / Flickr
Hillary Dixler Canavan is Eater's restaurant editor and the author of the publication's debut book, Eater: 100 Essential Restaurant Recipes From the Authority on Where to Eat and Why It Matters (Abrams, September 2023). Her work focuses on dining trends and the people changing the industry — and scouting the next hot restaurant you need to try on Eater's annual Best New Restaurant list.

Forget about "Liv Mas" and Mountain Dew AM. According the Associated Press, Taco Bell announced yesterday that it is exploring "balanced choices" to add to its menu in the next several years. The plan is to have 20% of combo meals comply with federal nutritional recommendations by 2020. To make this happen, Taco Bell is working on a "range of products" that might be introduced to the menu as soon as 2014. While the move is certainly a surprise so soon after the introduction of Doritos Locos Tacos Doritos, CEO Greg Creed says: "We're not going to walk away from who Taco Bell is."

According to AP, current sales from the calorie-conscious Fresco menu account for only 2% of sales. Along with Master Chef Taco Shill Lorena Garcia's Bell Cantina menu, the Fresco menu represents Taco Bell's initial efforts to capitalize diners' desire not to get fat. Perhaps the 375 million Doritos Locos Tacos sold last year will fund the new menu research.

· Taco Bell going on a health kick [AP]
· All Taco Bell Coverage on Eater [-E-]