New Taco Bell Lawsuit

Taco Bell is being sued again, this time for false and deceptive practices in the marketing of its meat products. The class action lawsuit filed on Monday in Brooklyn by Frank Siragusa accuses the restaurant chain of false advertising, alleging that products contain half the amount of meat and beans than advertised. The specific products include the Mexican Pizza line and Crunchwraps.

Siragusa’s complaint states,

“Taco Bell’s actions are especially concerning now that inflation, food, and meat prices are very high and many consumers, especially lower-income consumers, are struggling financially,” . . . “Taco Bell advertises larger portions of food to steer consumers to their restaurants for their meals and away from competitors that more fairly advertise the size of their menu items, unfairly diverting millions of dollars in sales that would have gone to competitors.”

Read more about the suit here: https://www.reuters.com/legal/taco-bell-is-sued-false-advertising-crunchwraps-mexican-pizzas-2023-07-31/

Why is this important: Putting aside the use of poor ingredients such as seed oils and harmful additives, the new allegations against Taco Bell are what many people are experiencing with the food industry right now: the product they receive is different from the product advertised. Whether this is specific to one restaurant, or related to a practice that spans the country, remains to be seen.

As a former food business owner I understand how important it is to people that they receive the product they believe they are purchasing from a photo online or on the menu board. Variations in that cause consumer upset. However, I also understand that it could very well be specific to a certain restaurant due to a failure of proper training.

It will be interesting to see the documents produced in discovery to determine what is causing the variance in Taco Bell products.