Taco Bell fights beef lawsuit
Taco Bell is launching an advertising campaign today 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 it actually uses a meat mixture in its food 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.
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.
