Taco Bell announced their New Year’s resolution and the home of the chalupa revealed their plan to provide healthier food options.
Taco Bell shared in a press release that the company is going to get rid of XL soda, remove antibiotics, preservatives and additives select items and, serve 100% cage free egg ingredients. In addition, the company is planning on reducing the amount of sodium in their foods by 10%.
Outside of healthier food options, the company is expanding their benefits for their employees with the Live Más Scholarship, which will provide $1.3 million in funding for the next generation of “creators, innovators and dreamers.”
Looking for a job? Taco Bell is also planning on creating 100,000 jobs by 2022 and hiring 1.5 million young adults over the next decade.
LOUISVILLE, KY, USA – NOV. 21, 2016: Yum! Brands headquarters and support center in Louisville, KY. Yum! is one of the world’s largest restaurant companies operating Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut. (Thomas Kelley / Shutterstock.com)
Taco Bell is part of the Yum! Brands corporation and is the leading Mexican fast-food restaurant in the United States. While the company is most known for their Doritos Locos Tacos, lower calorie Fresco options and the Crunchwrap, the company has been competing with Chipotle Mexican Grill.
What about Chipotle?
Chipotle faced a major controversy as several virus outbreaks pressuring the to the restaurant to close their doors for a few hours to ensure food safety was up to par. In addition, Chipotle implemented new rules including: requiring all employees to wash their hands several times throughout the days, putting all produce in hot water for five seconds to kill pathogens, and using safety measures to prepare all food ingredients.
Despite those changes, it still may not be enough for consumers to visit Chipotle again. According to a Huffington Post/YouGov Poll, only 36% of people surveyed found Chipotle was safe to eat. In addition, 24% said they were not confident in the food’s safety.
Unfortunately, things got worse for the company. Last year, several men filed a class-action lawsuit against Chipotle. They claimed that the company incorrectly labeled the amount of calories in their food.