2-21 IAN Taco Bell

 Fast food beef gets spicy. The fast food chain Taco Bell recently launched a national advertising campaign in retaliation to a lawsuit alleging the company’s taco filling isn’t beef. An Alabama law firm brought the lawsuit against Taco Bell claiming it had the taco filling tested and found that it contained only 35 percent beef. Further, the lawsuit alleges Taco Bell’s meat mixture contains binders and extenders and does not meet requirements set out by the U.S. D.A. to be labeled as beef.

 It’s no revelation that a .99 cent taco probably doesn’t contain the finest grain-fed beef, and most people would concur that for the price, they wouldn’t expect it. Taco Bell’s advertisements claim the product is 88 percent beef with added water, spices, oats, starch and other ingredients that “contribute to the quality of the product.”

 Idaho Farm Bureau President, Frank Priestly strongly objected with the following statement: “Where we take issue in this matter is centered on Taco Bell’s ham-fisted public response which ran in newspapers around the country. Describing the main ingredient in a product you are trying to sell as “boring” and “bland” seems counterintuitive. The ad states; “Plain ground beef tastes boring. The only reason we add anything to our beef is to give the meat flavor and quality. Otherwise, we’d end up with nothing more than the bland flavor of ground beef and that doesn’t make for great-tasting tacos. We strongly disagree with this assessment. If the ground beef Taco Bell buys lacks quality, we suggest they explore a different, perhaps domestic source. We also take issue with the negative light this advertisement casts on beef producers.”