For 99 cents, Taco Bell doesn't serve true beef ?!?! Oh, the horror..ble lawsuit

[deltask8er]

An Alabama law firm claims in a lawsuit that Taco Bell is using false advertising when it refers to using "seasoned ground beef" or "seasoned beef" in its products.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41242132...consumer_news/

Taco Bell defends its mixture of seasoned meat

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41261578

The law firm is quite proud of this lawsuit:

http://www.beasleyallen.com/news/Bea...all-consumers/

I'd be surprised if any federal judge wastes court time and resources on this.

[BigB08822]

Well just to be fair, this a class action lawsuit and they are NOT suing for any money. They just want Taco Bell to abide by guidelines which say that "taco meat filler" must be at least 40% beef. The meat they tested was 36% beef. It is false advertisement and that is the basis of the suit. It is actually quite legit if their tests were accurate.

My biggest complain it when did their tacos go to 99 cents? They used to be 79 cents and then went to 89 cents. I know times change but it wasn't that long ago at all that it went to 89. I am not stopping there for a taco or two if they cost a buck a piece, not worth it for that crap anymore.

[deltask8er]

One of their burritos is 99 cents. Don't know about the tacos. I've never liked their beef offerings, anyway. I stick with chicken or beans.

http://www.tacobell.com/

Oh, they have a potato taco now? No lack of carbs there .

[BigB08822]

Well I went by a taco bell the other day and my tacos were 99 cents a piece. I thought it might have been because it was a brand new taco bell and they had prices a little higher to cover costs of a new business. Then I saw this thread title and it confirmed that 99 cents must be the regular price.

[FigureSpins]

Whew! I thought it was going to turn out that they used other kinds of meat as a filler.

According to that Web site, ingredients used to season the Taco Bell meat include salt, chili pepper, onion powder, tomato powder, oats, soy lectithin, sugar, soybean oil, garlic powder, yeast extract, citric acid and cocoa powder.

Cocoa Powder? Oats? Not so bad

We rarely go to Taco Bell - maybe once a year. I usually order chicken anyway.

[Bev Johnston]

Whew! I thought it was going to turn out that they used other kinds of meat as a filler.



Cocoa Powder? Oats? Not so bad

We rarely go to Taco Bell - maybe once a year. I usually order chicken anyway.

I use cocoa powder in my chili. It gives it a little bitter edge that goes well with the spice. This isn't so bad. At least they aren't using "machine separated parts" like in some hotdogs.

[Jenny]

From their website - Seasoned Beef (not just the seasoning):

Beef, Water, Seasoning [Isolated Oat Product, Salt, Chili Pepper, Onion Powder, Tomato Powder, Oats (Wheat), Soy Lecithin, Sugar, Spices, Maltodextrin, Soybean Oil (Anti-dusting Agent), Garlic Powder, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Caramel Color, Cocoa Powder (Processed With Alkali), Silicon Dioxide, Natural Flavors, Yeast, Modified Corn Starch, Natural Smoke Flavor], Salt, Sodium Phosphates. CONTAINS SOYBEAN, WHEAT

And this is worth looking at as well: http://www.tacobell.com/nutrition/ingredientstatement

[my little pony]

considering the quality of ground beef they might be using, people might be better off with the fillers

once upon a time i worked at chi chis and the ground beef was cooked someplace in the midwest then shipped to us. if it had only been cooked rare or mid rare, because of the chemicals in it, it could never be cooked more, just made hotter, so it would always be pink.

[Rex]

I use cocoa powder in my chili. It gives it a little bitter edge that goes well with the spice. This isn't so bad. At least they aren't using "machine separated parts" like in some hotdogs.

When I used to shop for my mom when she had my brothers' children and money was really tight for her, I would get these frozen meatballs from a discount market. They were a dollar a bag. The kids loved them and it was easy for her or my brother just to throw them in some sauce and have dinner. One day I got some myself and looked at the ingredients. They included these "Machine Separated Parts", as well as "chicken skin and parts of chicken feet and beaks" .

I started making my own meatballs then.

[Jenny]

considering the quality of ground beef they might be using, people might be better off with the fillers

once upon a time i worked at chi chis and the ground beef was cooked someplace in the midwest then shipped to us. if it had only been cooked rare or mid rare, because of the chemicals in it, it could never be cooked more, just made hotter, so it would always be pink.

Take a few moments and read this article - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html

You may never eat ground meat again. We eat very little meat anyway, but when we do, we only buy local, ethically raised beef, and if we want ground meat, we either buy what our local guy grinds on premises, or do it ourselves at home.

I admit that in the past Taco Bell has been a sekret weakness of mine - but I think I'm now officially off it. Mexican food is so easy to make at home anyway, and much better.

[essence_of_soy]

The fact that Taco Bell (or any fast food chains menus for that matter) contains anything remotely resembling food is simply laughable.

I usually weigh up whether spending 99 cents is worth buying a quart bottle of Pepto Bismol afterwards.

[Veronika]

I've never gotten sick from Taco Bell, but I do sometimes avoid the beef. You can fake out beef, but chicken is chicken.

[Jenny]

I've never gotten sick from Taco Bell, but I do sometimes avoid the beef. You can fake out beef, but chicken is chicken.

Not necessarily - aside from the fact that the chicken is doused with unpronouncable "flavour," we're talking about factory-farmed chicken that is genetically bred, pumped full of drugs and fed unnatural ingredients.

[Veronika]

Eys, but as I cannot afford to eat free-range and/or organic food at home, it's really not that different from what I'm used to. You gotta have money to eat good food, I guess.

[dbell1]

Used to get their gorditas, got sick once, refused to eat it again. Son loved it, I got it for him recently when he shoveled the driveway snow, he got sick and now he won't eat there again. I've started making tacos at home. Cheaper, easier and I can control what 'fillers' I use. I've been buying Trader Joe's handmade tortillas. Amazing!

Vegetarian friend ate at the same place a few weeks ago - she got sick too. Figure it's a location issue, but you can never be too careful.

[FigureSpins]

I never think of Taco Bell as a place for vegetarian food. Place should be reported to the Health Dept. One of my daughter's friends did a grammar-school science project on the cleanliness of fast food restaurants. Taco Bell lost, big-time. Everything was off the charts with the test strips - the chairs, restrooms, tables, the trays, the counters.

That's when we started avoiding Taco Bell, I think. Her display board was very convincing.

I found a knockoff recipe (from TopSecretRecipes.com) for Chili's Fajita steak and chicken, so when the kids want tacos, I make Fajitas. The recipe's easy and grilling/broiling is easier than frying, cleanup-wise.

[Veronika]

I go to Taco Bell with a vegetarian friend of mine...she doesn't have a lot of choices, but she figures it out. She usually gets a bean burrito and an empanada.

[BigB08822]

How can you make tacos for cheaper than taco bell? Everytime I make tacos I am shocked at how expensive it is. Between the meat, lettuce, tomatoes, shells, etc it really racks up to a big bill. Then if you want anything extra like salsa, guacamole, onions, etc it just adds that much more to the bill. I haven't even mentioned cheese!

[emason]

How can you make tacos for cheaper than taco bell? Everytime I make tacos I am shocked at how expensive it is. Between the meat, lettuce, tomatoes, shells, etc it really racks up to a big bill. Then if you want anything extra like salsa, guacamole, onions, etc it just adds that much more to the bill. I haven't even mentioned cheese!

Except you appear to actually be making real food. Taco Bell is a lot of things, but 'food' is doubtful.

[Rex]

It is kind of pricey to make tacos for one. When I do make them, it is for 3-5 people.