There are people who love Taco Bell, and there are people who love Cheez-Its (myself included). But what would happen if the two were combined into one salty, cheesy meal?
Just like Taco Bell did with the Doritos Locos Tacos back then 2012In its latest culinary innovation, the company once again combines its popular tacos with a crispy, savory snack.
“Taco Bell and Kellanova unite to create the cheesiest menu items of our lives, including a Cheez-It cracker that is 16x larger than the original,” Taco Bell wrote in its press release from May.
What’s on the menu at Big Cheez-It?
There are three additions to the Taco Bell Menu from the Cheez-It collaboration: Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme, Big Cheez-It Tostada and Big Cheez-It Box.
The Crunchwrap replaces the typical corn tostada shell with a giant Cheez-It cracker, but the classic ingredients still consist of ground beef, nacho cheese, lettuce, sour cream and diced tomatoes, all wrapped in a tortilla.
In the Tostada, the corn husk base is also replaced by the Big Cheez-It, which is topped with ground meat, tomatoes, lettuce, grated cheese and sour cream.
And then there’s the Big Cheez-It Box, which Taco Bell says includes the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme, a Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, Nacho Fries with Nacho Cheese Sauce, and a large soft drink.
What is the sodium and fat content?
On the Taco Bell website, where you can order the new Cheez-It items, a sodium warning warns customers: Sodium content higher than the recommended daily amount (2,300 mg). High sodium intake can increase blood pressure and the risk of heart disease and stroke.
The Food and Drug Association And American Heart Association (AHA) each recommend a daily limit of 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day – however, the AHA advises Americans not to consume more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.
What the warning does not refer to is the content of saturated fatty acids, which the AHA advises should make up no more than 6% of your total daily calorie intake. For someone who eats 2,000 calories a day, that’s less than 13 grams. Saturated fats should be limited, the AHA explains, because they can raise your “bad” cholesterol (also known as LDL) and increase your risk of heart disease.
How the individual products perform according to nutritional information provided by Taco Bell and based on a person consuming 2,000 calories per day:
The Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme:
- Saturated fatty acids: 6
- Sodium: 1,720 mg
Supreme contains 45% of the FDA’s daily recommended amount of saturated fat and 75% of the sodium, but its sodium content exceeds the AHA guidelines of 1,500 mg.
The Big Cheez-It Tostada
- Saturated fat: 5 grams
- Sodium: 570 mg
With about 25% of the recommended sodium and 40% of the daily amount of saturated fat, the tostada may be the healthiest choice for you.
Large Cheez-It Box
The Big Cheez-It Box contains a Beefy 5-Layer Burrito with 1,270 mg of sodium, 8 grams of saturated fat and 500 calories. If you add the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme and a drink, the total calories are 1,400 to 1,820, which is almost a full day’s worth of calories for a person on a 2,000-calorie diet.
This box also contains a whopping 3,000 mg of sodium – far more than the recommended daily amount. And that’s not even including the nacho fries with nacho cheese sauce, whose nutritional information is not available on the Taco Bell website. That means the Big Cheez-It Box contains enough sodium to meet an adult’s maximum daily requirement for a day and a half.
More on the topic of food and nutrition:
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