Class Action Lawsuit over Taco Bell’s Beef
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Taco Bell in the federal court in California on behalf of Amanda Obney. The lawsuit claims that Taco Bell’s beef is anything but. Obney is suing the company for false advertising for calling the filling they use in their products “beef.”
Taco Bell calls the product “seasoned ground beef” or “seasoned beef.” But, it actually contains only 35 percent beef, for a total of 15 percent protein overall claims the lawyer who filed the suit, W. Daniel “Dee” Miles III of the Montgomery, Ala. Law firm Beasley Allen. The lawsuit claims the rest of Taco Bell’s ground “beef” is made with such items as water, isolated oat product, wheat oats, soy lecithin, maltodextrin, anti-dusting agent, autolyzed yeast extract, modified corn starch and sodium phosphate.
Miles states, “Taco Bell’s definition of ‘seasoned beef’ does not conform to consumers’ reasonable expectation or ordinary meaning of seasoned beef, which is beef and seasonings.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines beef as “flesh of cattle.”
While Taco Bell uses real chicken and carne asada steak in other products, the lawsuit claims the beef is “not beef.” The lawsuit also contends that within the industry, Taco Bell officials refer to the beef as “taco meat filling.” The lawsuit is not asking for any monetary damages, simply that the company stop advertising the filling as beef.
Taco Bell has said the lawsuit is “absolutely wrong” and plans its own legal action. A statement was released which said, “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.”