Taco Bell Fights Back

Taco Bell took a big PR hit when they were accused of using a variety of things in their beef taco filling that weren't associated with cows.  Now the sort-of-Mexican food giant is fighting back:

Taco Bell is launching an advertising campaign Friday to fight back against a lawsuit charging its taco filling isn't beef.

The fast-food chain is placing full-page print ads in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times and other papers as well as online ads to "set the record straight". The print ads say, in huge letters, "Thank you for suing us. Here's the truth about our seasoned beef." They go on to outline the meat's ingredients.

The class-action lawsuit was filed late last week in federal court in California. It claimed Taco Bell falsely advertised its products as "beef." The suit alleges that the fast-food chain actually uses a meat mixture in its burritos and tacos that contains binders and extenders and does not meet requirements set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be labeled "beef."

Taco Bell quickly denied the accusation. "The lawsuit is bogus and filled with completely inaccurate facts," Taco Bell President Greg Creed said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The lawsuit, filed by the Alabama law firm Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, doesn't specify what percentage of the mixture is meat. But the firm's attorney Dee Miles said the firm had the product tested and found it contained less than 35 percent beef. The firm would not say who tested the meat or give any other specifics of the analysis.

Taco Bell says its seasoned beef contains 88 percent USDA-inspected beef and the rest is water, spices and a mixture of oats, starch and other ingredients that contribute to the "quality of its product." The company said it uses no extenders.

Still, the company couldn't ignore the case after it made headlines and quickly spread online.

"This is one of those things that could be a humongous threat to their brand, which is why Taco Bell has taken such an aggressive stance on this," said Marc Williams, an attorney at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough with extensive experience in fast-food litigation.

The story sounded a little fishy when it first came out, but I doubt that most people really think too hard about what's in their food when they go to a fast food joint. If it tastes good and fills them, and better yet if it's cheap, it's okay.