Upsetting as the story is, what happens elsewhere in the dairy industry amounts to systematic cruelty. In reality, the daily practices of most dairy farms are more distressing than those of meat production. A mother cow only produces milk when she gets pregnant.

No cow on a dairy farm enjoys a rich, full life. Spent dairy cows are sent to be killed in the same slaughterhouses as those who are raised for beef.

All dairy cows eventually end up at slaughter; both the dairy and beef industries feed into the same system. The abuse wreaked upon the bodies of female dairy cows is so intense that many of these cows become “downed.” This term refers to cows that are so sick and/or injured that they are unable to walk or even stand.

In the U.S., more than 29 million cows suffer and die in the meat and dairy industries every year.

Dairy farmers milk female cows until they can no longer stand under their own power. Then they are dragged to auction and die. On average, more than 800,000 cows are killed for food every day.

‘A vet will examine them to see if they are fit for slaughter, after which they will be moved into a stall and stunned with a captive bolt,’ she says. ‘They will roll out, be shackled and then hoisted into the air and their throats cut. That is what will kill them. ‘

1 billion chickens

If you used all the available meat on the average cow to create a quarter pound minced hamburger, you would get about 1600 burgers from one cow.

You can get 220 Lbs of steak from the average cow which adds up to anywhere from 120 to 180 cuts of steak. This assumes the cow’s live weight is about 1200 – 1400 Lbs.

Americans alone consume one billion pounds of beef at McDonald’s in a year – five and a half million head of cattle. In the United States alone, people eat over 1 billion pounds of beef at McDonald’s in a year, which is 5½ million head of cattle.

How Many Chickens Does McDonald’s Kill in a Year? McDonald’s is the second-largest purchaser of chicken in the world. Around the world, the company is responsible for the deaths of billions of chickens every year. In the UK alone, McDonald’s serves over 30 million chickens every year.

But those figures are dwarfed by the number of animals we eat. An estimated 50 billion chickens are slaughtered for food every year – a figure that excludes male chicks and unproductive hens killed in egg production.

Using a special code on the box, you can even find the exact cow the meat came from. “We make sure cows are always slaughtered in their country of origin,” Koekkoek said, “so they don’t need to be transported far.”

What is Taco Bell’s Seasoned Beef Made Of? We use 100 percent USDA premium beef in our seasoned beef. We prepare it much the same way you prepare taco meat at home: after simmering, it is drained of excess fat and pre-seasoned with our signature blend of 7 authentic seasonings and spices.

Taco Bell has officially joined Club Horse Meat. The British Food Standards Agency said Taco Bell’s products contained more than 1% (pdf) horse meat. “We apologize to our customers and take this matter very seriously as food quality is our highest priority,” a spokesman for the chain said.

Created by “the masterminds at the Taco Bell Test Kitchen,” Taco Bell says the new fake meat—which at least visually resembles their classic ground beef—is made from a blend of peas and chickpeas and is American Vegetarian Association-certified vegan.