Taquitos: the research is about the tortilla around them

In a randomized crossover trial in 10 healthy Mexican women, about a third of the zinc in a plain corn tortilla was absorbed, a fraction of 0.35, and adding zinc oxide to the flour left it at 0.36. That trial was small, in women only, and it measured the wrapper. A filled, fried taquito was never on the plate. It is still about as close as the research gets, because we found no trial or cohort that studied taquitos themselves. The rest is label data. US dietary surveys count one regular taquito as 70 g, and a chicken one brings about 344 mg sodium, a figure the USDA recalculated from its 100 g value, so real pieces and brands will differ. Per 100 g, an oven-heated beef and cheese taquito carries 113 mcg folate and 15.4 mcg selenium, each about 28 percent of the Daily Value. Those numbers come from just two old USDA records, and the folate mostly reflects enriched flour or masa rather than the filling.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

As people eat it, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• A USDA reference sample of oven-heated frozen beef and cheese taquitos carries 113 mcg folate, 15.4 mcg selenium and 0.331 mg thiamin per 3.5 oz (100 g), each about 28% of the Daily Value. — USDA SR Legacy record for frozen beef and cheese taquitos, oven-heated; a second record (chicken and cheese) gives folate 99 mcg and selenium 16.7 mcg (n = 2 records) Evidence E source
  Folate 113 mcg (range 99 to 113 across 2 records), selenium 15.4 mcg (15.4 to 16.7), thiamin 0.331 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g)

What a real portion looks like

• USDA dietary survey coding counts one regular taquito as 70 g and a miniature one as 35 g, so a regular chicken taquito brings about 344 mg sodium. — USDA FNDDS portion weights for Taquito, chicken (food code 58104835) and Taquito, beef or pork (food code 58104825), as used to code US dietary recalls Evidence E source
  Miniature 35 g, small or regular 70 g, large 105 g; sodium 491 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g) in the chicken taquito, 343.7 mg per 70 g taquito

What your body absorbs

• In a randomized crossover trial in 10 women, about a third of the zinc in a corn tortilla was absorbed whether the tortilla was unfortified (0.35) or fortified with zinc oxide (0.36). — Healthy Mexican women aged 21 to 51, 10 per phase, fed corn tortillas made from flour with 20 mg/kg added zinc or none, stable isotope method (n = 10) Evidence B source
  Fractional zinc absorption 0.35 +/- 0.07 unfortified, 0.36 +/- 0.05 zinc oxide, 0.37 +/- 0.07 zinc sulfate; added iron at 30 or 60 mg/kg did not change it

What cooking and storage change

• Nixtamalization only modestly lowers phytate in maize, and women absorbed 50% of the calcium from low phytate maize tortillas against 35% from ordinary ones. — 5 healthy adult women, each eating about 4.9 oz (140 g) tortillas from low phytate maize and from matching wild type maize at a 1 month interval (n = 5) Evidence C source
  Fractional calcium absorption 0.50 +/- 0.03 low phytate versus 0.35 +/- 0.07 control, P = 0.003

Safety, limits and interactions

• In 1988 five people in California had new seizures within 12 hours of eating store bought taquitos later found to contain the pesticide endrin. — 5 persons with new onset seizures who had eaten taquitos bought during one week from a single store, California, 1988 (n = 5) Evidence C source
  Seizures within 12 hours of eating; endrin found in leftover taquitos, below levels previously thought to cause seizures
• CDC's investigation of the endrin taquito outbreak found the pesticide in the corn tortillas, not in the meat filling. — Leftover taquitos from the index family, tested by California Department of Food and Agriculture laboratories Evidence E source
  Endrin detected in tortillas, absent from meat filling; no source found at store, plant or suppliers

Who this works differently for

• Children aged 5 to 7 absorbed only 3.8% of the reduced iron powder added to corn masa tortillas in a stable isotope trial, and EDTA did not raise it significantly. — Two groups of children aged 5 to 7 years, 12 per group, fed corn masa flour tortillas with 3 mg/100 g reduced iron, with or without Na2EDTA (n = 24) Evidence B source
  Iron bioavailability 3.8% (2.7 to 5.3) without EDTA versus 5.1% (2.8 to 9.2) with EDTA, P = 0.18
• In Guatemalan girls aged 12 to 13, iron absorption from a fortified corn tortilla and bean meal rose from 5.5% with ferrous sulfate to 9.0% with NaFeEDTA. — Guatemalan girls aged 12 to 13 years eating meals of corn tortillas and black bean paste fortified with different iron compounds Evidence B source
  Geometric mean iron bioavailability 5.5% with ferrous sulfate versus 9.0% with NaFeEDTA, P = 0.009; ferrous fumarate 5.5 to 6.2%, not improved by Na2EDTA
• A survey of 4,361 US food stores found that rural stores were 14% more likely to sell at least one less healthy prepared item such as taquitos. — 4,361 supermarkets, grocery and convenience stores in 317 communities across 42 US states, 2011 and 2012 (n = 4361) Evidence C source
  Prevalence ratio 1.14 (95% CI 1.00 to 1.30) for rural stores carrying at least one less healthy item; 36.4% of all stores offered one

What is still unknown

• The only study naming taquitos as a cause of harm could not confirm exposure in tissue or find where the endrin came from, and no trial or cohort has studied taquitos themselves. — 5 seizure cases, California, 1988 (n = 5) Evidence C source
  Exposure unconfirmed; contamination source undetermined

The bottom line

The iron story in corn tortillas is weaker than the zinc one. Children aged 5 to 7 absorbed 3.8 percent (range 2.7 to 5.3) of the reduced iron powder added to masa tortillas in a trial of 24 children, and the iron powder there was finer than commercial powder, so real absorption may be lower still. Adding EDTA nudged it to 5.1 percent, a difference that did not reach significance (P = 0.18). In Guatemalan girls aged 12 to 13, a tortilla and black bean meal fortified with NaFeEDTA gave 9.0 percent iron absorption against 5.5 percent with ferrous sulfate. The abstract does not say how many girls took part, and the beans were part of the meal. Calcium is a separate question. Nixtamalization, the lime soaking that turns maize into masa, only modestly lowers phytate. Five women absorbed 50 percent of the calcium from tortillas made of a special low phytate maize and 35 percent from ordinary maize, in a comparison that was not randomized and used a hybrid commercial taquitos are not made from. The one safety record is old and specific. In 1988 five people in California had new seizures within 12 hours of eating taquitos bought from a single store in one week, and leftovers held the pesticide endrin. The CDC found it in the corn tortillas and not in the meat filling. Exposure was never confirmed in tissue and the source was never found, so this describes one contaminated batch and says nothing about taquitos as a food. We have no card on allergy, pregnancy or medicines for taquitos. A survey of 4,361 US food stores found rural stores 14 percent more likely to sell at least one less healthy prepared item such as taquitos (prevalence ratio 1.14, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.30). That measures what is on the shelf, and it lumps taquitos with tacos and burritos.

Sources

1. tqt-r5-01 · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, dataset
   Taquitos, frozen, beef and cheese, oven-heated (FDC 169772, SR Legacy, Meals, Entrees, and Side Dishes): folate 113 mcg per 100 g = 28% DV (2 records 99-113); selenium 15.4 mcg = 28% DV (2 records 15.4-16.7); thiamin 0.331 mg = 28% DV; Foundation samples 0, CoFID match none
   USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC 169772 Taquitos, frozen, beef and cheese, oven-heated · checked 2026-10-02
2. tqt-r5-02 · USDA FNDDS 2021-2023, dataset
   FNDDS 2708601 Taquito, chicken (food code 58104835): Sodium, Na 491 mg per 100 g; 1 miniature taquito 35 g = 171.8 mg; 1 small/regular taquito 70 g = 343.7 mg; 1 large taquito 105 g = 515.5 mg. FNDDS 2708600 Taquito, beef or pork (food code 58104825): same portion weights 35, 70, 105 g
   USDA FNDDS 2021-2023, Taquito chicken, food code 58104835 (FDC 2708601) · checked 2026-10-02
3. tqt-r5-03 · randomized crossover trial
   The mean (+/- SEM) fractional zinc absorption from unfortified tortilla, tortilla fortified with zinc oxide, and tortilla fortified with zinc sulfate did not differ among treatments: 0.35 +/- 0.07, 0.36 +/- 0.05, and 0.37 +/- 0.07, respectively.
   Food Nutr Bull, 2012 · checked 2026-10-02
4. tqt-r5-06 · controlled feeding comparison
   Bioavailability of calcium is, however, compromised by phytate, which is present in large quantities in maize kernels and is only modestly reduced by nixtamalization.
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2005 · checked 2026-10-02
5. tqt-r5-07 · case series
   We identified and interviewed 5 persons with new-onset seizures within 12 hours of eating taquitos, all purchased during a 1-week period from a single store. Leftover taquitos were found to contain endrin, a highly toxic chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide.
   West J Med, 1992 · checked 2026-10-02
6. tqt-r5-08 · public health surveillance report
   Endrin was present in the tortillas but not in the meat filling.
   CDC MMWR, Endrin poisoning associated with taquito ingestion, California, 1989 · checked 2026-10-02
7. tqt-r5-04 · randomized controlled trial
   When normalized to 40% absorption of the reference dose, the geometric mean (+/-range 1 SD) bioavailability of reduced iron in tortilla was 3.8% (2.7-5.3). The addition of Na(2)EDTA, tended to increase it (P = 0.18) to 5.1% (2.8-9.2).
   J Nutr, 2004 · checked 2026-10-02
8. tqt-r5-05 · randomized crossover trial
   Geometric mean iron bioavailability from test meals fortified with ferrous sulfate was 5.5% and was significantly higher in test meals fortified with NaFeEDTA (9.0%; P = 0.009, paired t test).
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2002 · checked 2026-10-02
9. tqt-r5-09 · cross-sectional store audit
   Rural stores were 26% less likely to carry prepared salads (prevalence ratio [PR]=0.74, 95% CI=0.62, 0.88) and 14% more likely to carry at least one less-healthy prepared food item (PR=1.14, 95% CI=1.00, 1.30).
   Am J Prev Med, 2015 · checked 2026-10-02
10. tqt-r5-10 · case series
    Although tissue confirmation of exposure to endrin was not possible and the level of contamination in the tested taquitos was below that previously thought to be capable of inducing seizures
    West J Med, 1992 · checked 2026-10-02