Grant Preston:Taco Bell exaggerates how much beef it uses in some menu items, lawsuit alleges

2025-05-01 00:25:09source:Christopher Caldwellcategory:News

Jumpstart with Jackie: Man asks Taco Bell where's the beef?
Jumpstart with Jackie: Man asks Taco Bell where's the beef?02:19

A Taco Bell diner is beefing with the fast-food chain, claiming its false advertising led him to buy a pizza that turned out to be very short on meat. 

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, New York City resident Frank Siragusa alleged that Taco Bell's advertising is "unfair and materially misleading," claiming that the restaurant company overstates how much "beef and/or ingredients" are in its menu items.

According to the complaint, photos of Taco Bell's menu items that appear in the store and in food delivery apps show "at least double" the amount of meat and vegetables actually contained in its Crunchwraps and Mexican Pizzas. To illustrate the allegations, the complaint also compares what an attorney for Siragusa say is stock footage of Taco Bell's food with decidedly slimmer examples of actual products the suit said was pulled from Reddit and user reviews.

A lawsuit against Taco Bell filed by a New York City resident accuses the fast-food chain of exaggerating the amount of meat and other ingredients in some of its menu items compared with the company's actual offerings.  Law office of James C. Kelly 

These ads "are unfair and financially damaging to consumers," the complaint alleges, calling them "especially concerning now that inflation, food and meat prices are very high and many consumers, especially lower income consumers, are struggling financially."

Yum Brands, Taco Bell's parent company, did not immediately respond to a message requesting comment on the suit. 

An attorney for New York City resident Frank Siragusa alleges that Taco Bell's Mexican Pizza contains less meat than what the company represents in its ads. Law office of James C. Kelly 

Siragusa isn't the first unhappy restaurant customer to call attention to this supposed discrepancy — the complaint links to a YouTube review, Reddit thread and new articles that bemoan the alleged lack of meat in Taco Bell's menu items.

"The first thing I noticed was how small it looked," reporter Anthony Russo wrote for the U.S. Sun shortly after Taco Bell revived the Mexican Pizza last September. "Another thing, it wasn't as beefy as the commercial pictures made it look."

However, Russo ultimately concluded that the dish was "edible" and "certainly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be once I opened the box."

    In:
  • Taco Bell

More:News

Recommend

Snowflakes, Death Threats and Dollar Signs: Cloud Seeding Is at a Crossroads

Listen to an audio version of this story below.Humans have the technology to literally make snow fal

Targeted as a Coal Ash Dumping Ground, This Georgia Town Fought Back

JESUP, Georgia—Peggy Riggins remembers standing against the wall of a windowless meeting room on a J

California lawmakers to weigh over 100 recommendations from reparations task force

A state task force in California has proposed more than 100 recommendations, including cash payments