On January 19, 2011, Taco Bell was served a lawsuit, from a law firm, accusing the restaurant chain of using a mixture for taco’s that did not contain enough beef to meet USDA requirements to call the meat ground beef (Roper, Samikkannu & O’Rourke, 2012). The law firm alleged that the restaurant chain was using more filler than beef for tacos and therefore be labeled as taco meat filling. The lawsuit further claimed that seasoning for the beef were misrepresented, when in fact they were not added for flavor but to increase the volume of the product (Roper et al., 2012). On the day the lawsuit went public, Taco Bell reacted with a media campaign to explain their side of the story. In their advertisements and videos, they included the ingredients
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Creed further explained that the other 12 percent was 5 percent water, 4 percent Mexican spices and 5 percent oats, caramelized yeast, citric acid and other ingredients (Crandall et al., 2014). Taco Bell is no newcomer to the food requirements or standards and policies on product labeling as it is the nation’s leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain that serves to its customers, tacos, burritos, signature quesadillas, Border Bowls, nachos and other specialty items. This restaurant’s concept is to incorporate a reduced-size restaurant with a limited menu, meant to emphasize volume (Roper et al., 2012). Nonetheless, while Taco Bell effectively explained their beef ingredients, much criticism has come from various stakeholders wanting to understand what the other 12 percent of the ingredients really are. In an effort to get ahead of the chatter regarding the scientifically crafted ingredients, Taco Bell said on its Web site that “the ingredients do have weird names but they’re all safe and approved by the FDA.” (Roper et al., 2012). Taco Bell further stated the following:
“they’re common ingredients also found in food items at your grocery store. Each ingredient helps make our seasoned beef taste great. Many of them are items you might use at home such as salt, peppers, and spices. Ingredients like oats and sodium phosphates help make sure the texture is right.” They also stated that they only used USDA-inspected “100 percent premium real beef” and no monosodium glutamate, or MSG, a flavor enhancer linked to nausea, chest pains, and numbness (Hari,
Creed further explained that the other 12 percent was 5 percent water, 4 percent Mexican spices and 5 percent oats, caramelized yeast, citric acid and other ingredients (Crandall et al., 2014). Taco Bell is no newcomer to the food requirements or standards and policies on product labeling as it is the nation’s leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain that serves to its customers, tacos, burritos, signature quesadillas, Border Bowls, nachos and other specialty items. This restaurant’s concept is to incorporate a reduced-size restaurant with a limited menu, meant to emphasize volume (Roper et al., 2012). Nonetheless, while Taco Bell effectively explained their beef ingredients, much criticism has come from various stakeholders wanting to understand what the other 12 percent of the ingredients really are. In an effort to get ahead of the chatter regarding the scientifically crafted ingredients, Taco Bell said on its Web site that “the ingredients do have weird names but they’re all safe and approved by the FDA.” (Roper et al., 2012). Taco Bell further stated the following:
“they’re common ingredients also found in food items at your grocery store. Each ingredient helps make our seasoned beef taste great. Many of them are items you might use at home such as salt, peppers, and spices. Ingredients like oats and sodium phosphates help make sure the texture is right.” They also stated that they only used USDA-inspected “100 percent premium real beef” and no monosodium glutamate, or MSG, a flavor enhancer linked to nausea, chest pains, and numbness (Hari,