Taco Bell has been quietly testing a reduced-sodium version of its menu at 150 units in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the past two months, the chain’s president said Tuesday….

“The first place we actually tested this is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. So 150 restaurants over the last few months have been eating great-tasting Taco Bell food with 23-percent less sodium,” he said. “And the great news is: No one even knows we’ve done it. That’s when you know you’ve been successful.”…

Doolin said Creed is a great example of “conscience capitalism.”

“They are not doing this as a PR stunt,” she said. “They are doing it to make the world a better place…”

– Ron Ruggless, Nation’s Restaurant News.

As if Taco Bell hasn’t already done enough to make the world a better place, they’re now sneakily swapping low-sodium items for their traditional foods to see if anyone notices. And in Dallas, no one has.

We should consider the possibility that Dallas-area Taco Bell consumers, presumably jacked up on mesquite barbecue, do not have the most distinguishing palates.

Plus, if someone swapped in some new recipe when you expected old-fashioned Taco Bell and didn’t tell you about it, I’d say it’s even-money your brain is so thoroughly accustomed to the way Taco Bell is supposed to taste that if the new stuff tastes anything like the old stuff you wouldn’t notice the difference. The power of suggestion being what it is and everything.

So should Taco Bell begin rolling out these new low-sodium replacements nationwide, know that I will remain vigilant and do my best to remain unbiased so I can best review, for you, the newer, healthier Taco Bell.

Unless, of course, they just kind of do it without telling anybody.

Hat tip to Mike for the link.