Taco Bell Tests Out 'Healthy Taco' With Fried Chicken Shell

After months of hints, rumors, and previews, Taco Bell is finally releasing a fried chicken taco shell. The Naked Chicken Chalupa is a chalupa with fried chicken in place of a regular tortilla shell, and it's being tested out in select locations in California and other markets.Foodbeast confirmed the fried chicken shell would be released nationwide sometime next year.

The new fried chicken chalupa has been notably compared to KFC's notorious double down sandwich with two pieces of fried chicken as a sandwich "bun." But according to Fortune, the oddest part about the new fried chicken addition to the Taco Bell menu is how customers perceive the item.

"We were getting feedback like, 'It's so healthy. It's so fresh,'" Kat Garcia, Taco Bell's senior manager of marketing, told BuzzFeed. "That really surprised us because it's fried chicken."

Garcia calls it a "health halo" that customers believe the shell to be healthier than a regular tortilla. However, Taco Bell promised not to market the item as healthy.