Taco Bell sued

drkitten said:
Nope. Restaurants are not "retail stores" for the basal ingredients; you don't buy ground beef from a Taco Bell any more than you buy hops from a microbrewery or eggs and flour from a pancake house.
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Please see Title 9 CFR c313 "Exemptions" for clarification.

drkitten said:
Taco Bell puts something into the product that they sell -- that something is called an 'ingredient.'
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So do meat packers and manufacturers.

drkitten said:
What's the ingredient? Well, they took ground beef and they seasoned it, so it's `seasoned ground beef.'
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Nope. They heat it up and put it in tacos.

drkitten said:
It's no longer `ground beef' (because it's been seasoned), so it's appropriate to describe it as `seasoned ground beef,'
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Taco Bell hasn't had ground beef on the premises in 20 years. Go look if you don't believe me.

drkitten said:
but of course `ground beef' is one of the ingredients that they put into their product.
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Nope. They have taco meat filling.
 
3bodyproblem said:
You shouldn't. What you described is to the letter of the law from what I've read. In the coming months it looks like the nutritional information will be required on the label as well. Even if you bought it roasted from the deli.
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But, you see, it wasn't even labeled as "Seasoned Skinless Boneless Chicken Tenderloin". It was labeled as "Skinless Boneless Chicken Tenderloin", and only afterward did it mention that it also "contained" seasoning. (Leaving aside the definition of water as a seasoning, which I would have thought that you, of all people involved in this thread, would take issue with.) Nor was it a prepared product that included meat, which any reasonable person would expect to have some significant percentage of additional ingredients.

It was labeled as chicken. Raw chicken.
 
3bodyproblem said:
Nope. They heat it up and put it in tacos.
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Nope. Taco Bell doesn't put ground beef in tacos. It puts the seasoned ground beef in tacos.

You can tell that because, like, you can taste the seasoning in the stuff inside the tacos.


They have taco meat filling.
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Which is ground beef, with seasoning. Hence "seasoned ground beef."
 
quadraginta said:
But, you see, it wasn't even labeled as "Seasoned Skinless Boneless Chicken Tenderloin". It was labeled as "Skinless Boneless Chicken Tenderloin", and only afterward did it mention that it also "contained" seasoning. (Leaving aside the definition of water as a seasoning, which I would have thought that you, of all people involved in this thread, would take issue with.) Nor was it a prepared product that included meat, which any reasonable person would expect to have some significant percentage of additional ingredients.

It was labeled as chicken. Raw chicken.
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See the USDA guidelines for poultry products in aqueous sodium chloride for clarifications. (There's a section on labeling you want to look at and a section on additives, salt is GRAS "generally recognized as safe" and a seasoning)
 
drkitten said:
Nope. Taco Bell doesn't put ground beef in tacos. It puts the seasoned ground beef in tacos.
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According to you. According to the USDA they don't. USDA>dr.kitten

drkitten said:
You can tell that because, like, you can taste the seasoning in the stuff inside the tacos.
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You put it in your mouth? :jaw-dropp


drkitten said:
Which is ground beef, with seasoning. Hence "seasoned ground beef."
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Nope. According to the USDA it's not. USDA>dr.kitten :D


You're really coming late to the party with this old chestnut. It's been slammed by citing the USDA regulations as they apply to ground beef and seasoning and taco meat filling. The USDA calls it "taco meat filling" for a reason. That reasoning is in the seasoning.
 
JohnnyG said:
Wrong.The USDA doesn't regulate what companies such as restaurants can describe to their customers in advertisements as "beef," "chicken" or "meat," said USDA press officer Neil Gaffney.
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You're going to have to use some critical thinking here. The supplier sends Taco Belll USDA approved "taco meat fillling". The USDA doesn't regulate the Taco Bell advertising department and their claims of "seasoned ground beef".

They would however regulate the supplier if they tried to label it "seasoned ground beef".

Logic.
 
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3bodyproblem said:
You're going to have to use some critical thinking here. The supplier sends Taco Belll USDA approved "taco meat fillling". The USDA doesn't regulate the Taco Bell advertising department and their claims of "seasoned ground beef".

They would however regulate the supplier if they tried to label it "seasoned ground beef".

Logic.
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*sigh*

Is 88 > 40?

See, the supplier cannot sell it to Taco Bell as seasoned ground beef, because the USDA regulations require it be labeled as taco meat filling. However, when Taco Bell markets their product as seasoned ground beef, it's accurate in that

A) the taco meat filling is 88% ground beef (which is over the 40% minimum for taco meat filling)
B) seasonings have been added by Tyson (which is why Tyson must label it taco meat filling instead of ground beef)

Nowhere is Taco Bell limited to calling the product taco meat filling because the USDA's guidelines are not strictly enforced on restaurants by the FTC. While the FTC may reference USDA guidelines to see what is actually in the product, the FTC does not enforce nor strictly adhere to USDA guidelines.


(funny that an uninformed guy like myself, just out to win an argument at all costs, is able to understand that distinction in the roles whereas others in this thread cannot)
 
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BobTheDonkey said:
While the FTC may reference USDA guidelines to see what is actually in the product, the FTC does not enforce nor strictly adhere to USDA guidelines.
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That's some crafty wording. ;)

BobTheDonkey said:
(funny that an uninformed guy like myself, just out to win an argument at all costs, is able to understand that distinction in the roles whereas others in this thread cannot)
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If I thought you were truly incapable of understanding I would have quit pages ago.
 
3bodyproblem said:
You're going to have to use some critical thinking here. The supplier sends Taco Belll USDA approved "taco meat fillling". The USDA doesn't regulate the Taco Bell advertising department and their claims of "seasoned ground beef".

They would however regulate the supplier if they tried to label it "seasoned ground beef".

Logic.
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You yourself said there is no "seasoned ground beef" category in the USDA regs. Critical thinkers realize that "taco meat filling" is indeed a correct label for the product.

What you are unable or unwilling to understand is that "seasoned ground beef" does fit the USDA definition of "taco meat filling". The supplier labeling it "taco meat filling" is not evidence that it cannot be called "seasoned ground beef" in marketing.
 
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JohnnyG said:
What you are unable or unwilling to understand is that "seasoned ground beef" does fit the USDA definition of "taco meat filling".
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lol, no it doesn't. I'm not going to cite the regulation for the 20th time, you either understand or you don't.
 
3bodyproblem said:
lol, no it doesn't. I'm not going to cite the regulation for the 20th time, you either understand or you don't.
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I'll save you the trouble.
USDA Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book said:
TACO FILLING:
Product must contain at least 40% fresh meat. The label must show true product name, e.g., “Taco Filling with Meat,” “Beef Taco Filling,” or “Taco Meat Filling.”
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Which part of "at least 40% fresh meat" does seasoned ground beef violate?
 
3bodyproblem said:
18 pages later...

the 60% fillers and binders part...
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I must have missed the part of the description where taco meat filling must have 60% binders/fillers.

As far as I can see, the requirement is at least 40% ground beef - and since 88 > 40, Taco Bell's seasoned ground beef is accurately labeled taco meat filling by Tyson and yet still has a high enough beef content to be marketed as seasoned ground beef without being misleading (again, 88% beef content is roughly what one would expect to find when making taco meat at home).

There's no "one or the other" conundrum here, except for the one you have falsely introduced.
 
3bodyproblem said:
18 pages later...

the 60% fillers and binders part...
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Where is that part? Right next to the picture of the rabbit with the pancake on his head? I quoted you the FULL definition of Taco Filling from the policy manual, and there is no mention of fillers and binders.

Your whole argument seems to hinge on the false dichotomy that because Tyson labels it "taco meat filling" it can't also be "seasoned ground beef". You are wrong.
 
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BobTheDonkey said:
As far as I can see, the requirement is at least 40% ground beef - and since 88 > 40, Taco Bell's seasoned ground beef is accurately labeled taco meat filling by Tyson and yet still has a high enough beef content to be marketed as seasoned ground beef without being misleading (again, 88% beef content is roughly what one would expect to find when making taco meat at home).

There's no "one or the other" conundrum here, except for the one you have falsely introduced.
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The so called "conundrum" is you making up your own regulations. Where did you come up with the idea that 88% is high enough beef content to be marketed as seasoned ground beef? You just made that up. Admit it, you arbitrarily decided for the entire World what "beef" content is or isn't misleading.

This doesn't even begin to address the question of what Taco Bell is using as "beef". Taco Bell and Tyson are tight lipped, but it sure as heck isn't Grade A beef. From the misleading "100% USDA inspected" statement you can bet the cows were inspected by a USDA vet and ordered put down :D
 
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