27,000+ People Tell Taco Bell: Quit Pushing Sugary Drinks

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More than 27,000 people across the nation recently wrote letters to urge Taco Bell to quit pushing sugary drinks and add healthier drink options, like low- or no-fat milk.

The letters highlighted Taco Bell’s recent beverage rollout of sugar-filled drinks, like the Latin American favorite Manzanita Sol, and subsequent aggressive marketing of these drinks on social media.

Letters were collected by Salud America!, a Latino obesity research network funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez of the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Salud America! leaders delivered 27,748 letters to Taco Bell this week.

We will post their response here in coming days.

Why is this effort so important?

Studies find that Latino kids already drink more sugary drinks each day than their white peers, and have higher rates of obesity.

Additionally, marketing specifically for Taco Bell’s sugary drinks can be found all over Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, channels that research shows Latinos use more than their White peers—and at a younger age.

We believe Latino families and all Taco Bell customers need healthy drink options—nearly all of Taco Bell’s new drinks contain more sugar in the smallest cup size available than the American Heart Association recommends for kids in a day.

Visit our Salud America! Growing Healthy Change website to get involved in fighting Latino childhood obesity, and enter your address to see healthy local changes and Salud Heroes.