Taco Bell responds to meat lawsuit

Taco Bell says it plans to take legal action in response to a class action law suit that alleges the restaurant chain's beef isn't entirely cow meat.

Greg Creed, president and chief concept officer of Taco Bell Corp. said in a statement on its website Tuesday that the lawyers who launched the suit "elected to sue first and ask questions later - and got their 'facts' absolutely wrong."

Mr. Creed said his company buys beef "from the same trusted brands you find in the supermarket, like Tyson foods. We start with 100 per cent 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."

He noted all the seasonings and spice ingredients are listed on the company's website.

As reported yesterday, the Alabama law firm Beasley Allen is suing the fast-food company, claiming its taco filling contains only 36 per cent meat, which doesn't meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture's requirements for food labelled as "beef."

Below is the full list of ingredients in Taco Bell's seasoned ground beef, as shown on the company's website.It doesn't detail percentage-wise what the composition is.

Perhaps that'll be a matter for the courts.

Seasoned Ground Beef

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