{"id":12838,"date":"2011-01-26T09:29:47","date_gmt":"2011-01-26T14:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/12838\/attorneys-question-taco-bell-calls-beef-beef\/"},"modified":"2011-01-26T09:29:47","modified_gmt":"2011-01-26T14:29:47","slug":"attorneys-question-taco-bell-calls-beef-beef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/12838\/attorneys-question-taco-bell-calls-beef-beef\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorneys question whether what Taco Bell calls \u2018beef\u2019 is actually beef"},"content":{"rendered":"

Attorneys question whether what Taco Bell calls \u2018beef\u2019 is actually beef<\/p>\n

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AfSD\u2122(ADVOCATE FOR SAVING DOGS\u2122and all living creatures)<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

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Attorneys question whether what Taco Bell calls \u2018beef\u2019 is actually beef<\/b><\/h1>\n


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By Brett Michael Dykes<\/a> brett Michael Dykes<\/a><\/span> <\/cite> \u2013 Tue\u00a0Jan\u00a025, 1:04\u00a0pm\u00a0ET<\/abbr><\/b><\/div>\n

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The late-night crowd knows all too well the allure of Taco Bell\u2019s piping-hot creations. But is it really ground beef they\u2019re putting in that beef meximelt?<\/b><\/p>\n

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That\u2019s the question at the heart of a lawsuit filed recently by the Montgomery, Alabama-based law firm Beasley Allen.<\/b><\/p>\n

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The standard for what constitutes beef as defined by the USDA is pretty straightforward: \u201cflesh of animals.\u201d<\/a> In the \u201cFood Facts\u201d section of its website<\/a>, Taco Bell says the following about its beef: \u201cOur taco <\/span>meat<\/span><\/font><\/a> is made from USDA-inspected beef and is subjected to quality check points. It tastes great because it\u2019s simmered in 12 authentic seasonings and spices and is never frozen. Moreover, our taco meat is leaner than what you\u2019ll find in a restaurant-cooked hamburger because of the unique way that we prepare our taco meat and remove fat.\u201d But Beasley Allen contends that the company\u2019s claims are untrue<\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

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<\/span>\u201cRather than beef, these food <\/span>items<\/span><\/font><\/a> are actually made with a substance known as \u2018taco meat filling,\u2019 \u201d the lawsuit says. The firm contends that that Taco <\/span>Bell<\/span><\/font><\/a> shouldn\u2019t market the taco meat filling in question as beef because their testing shows that it only contains 36 percent ground beef. If that\u2019s true, Taco Bell\u2019s meat filling product would fall below the already generous USDA standard for it to qualify as meat \u2014 the present standard demands it consist of at least 40 percent meat. This inspired Gizmodo\u2019s Jesus Diaz to crack<\/a>, \u201cPerhaps they should call it \u2018Almost Taco Meat Filling.'\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

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The remainder of the Taco Bell\u2019s meat filling product consists of \u201cextenders\u201d like water, \u201cIsolated Oat Product,\u201d wheat oats, maltodrextrin, soy lecithin, maltodrextrin, anti-dusting agent, autolyzed yeast extract, modified corn starch, sodium phosphate and silicon dioxide.<\/b><\/p>\n

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Taco Bell actually addresses its use if silicon dioxide in the \u201cFood Facts\u201d section<\/a> of its website under the question, \u201cI heard a rumor that there\u2019s sand in your taco meat?\u201d It then goes on to explain that silicone dioxide is \u201ca safe, common food ingredient\u201d that\u2019s \u201cprimarily used in food to prevent ingredients from sticking together.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

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In response, Taco Bell has issued a statement insisting that the suit is unfounded: \u201cTaco Bell prides itself on serving high quality Mexican inspired food with great value. We\u2019re happy that the millions of customers we serve every week agree. We deny our advertising is misleading in any way and we intend to vigorously defend the suit.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

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In any event, the lawsuit\u2019s appetite-squelching accusations are likely to provide plenty of unadulterated fodder for late night comedians. \u201cLate Show with David Letterman\u201d head writer Eric Stangel was already making Taco Bell jokes on his Twitter page<\/a> this morning, cracking that because of the lawsuit we\u2019re all finally \u201cabout to find out where the Taco Bell Chihuahua went.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

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<\/b>UPDATE<\/b>: Taco Bell President and Chief Concept Officer Greg Creed contacted The Lookout with a strongly worded amended corporate response to the lawsuit:<\/p>\n

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At Taco Bell, we buy our beef from the same trusted brands you find in the supermarket, like Tyson Foods. We start with 100 percent USDA-inspected beef. Then we simmer it in our proprietary blend of seasonings and spices to give our seasoned beef its signature Taco Bell taste and texture. We are proud of the quality of our beef and identify all the seasoning and spice ingredients on our website. Unfortunately, the lawyers in this case elected to sue first and ask questions later \u2014 and got their \u201cfacts\u201d absolutely wrong. We plan to take legal action for the false statements being made about our food.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

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(Photo of sailer eating a taco: AP\/Gary C. Knapp. Screengrab of Taco Bell tacos via TacoBell.com)<\/b><\/p>\n


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Attorneys question whether what Taco Bell calls \u2018beef\u2019 is actually beef AfSD\u2122(ADVOCATE FOR SAVING DOGS\u2122and all living creatures) Attorneys question whether what Taco Bell calls \u2018beef\u2019 is actually beef By Brett Michael Dykes brett Michael Dykes \u2013 Tue\u00a0Jan\u00a025, 1:04\u00a0pm\u00a0ET The late-night crowd knows all too well the allure of Taco Bell\u2019s piping-hot creations. But is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,23,13,14,6,28,19,26,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cooking","category-entertainment","category-environment","category-family","category-friendburst","category-health","category-lifestyles","category-news","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}