Taco Bell customers in nearly two dozen states were recently left with a limited menu after the fast food franchise ordered stores to purge a combined total of approximately 2.3 million pounds of their seasoned beef over the weekend.
According to the chain’s Tuesday news release, the company ceased distribution and ordered the removal of the ground beef after “a customer reported they found a metal shaving in their menu item.”
Areas potentially impacted include: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, DC, and West Virginia
Taco Bell says that as of 9 a.m. PST on Monday, 100% of the affected restaurants “confirmed product has been removed and discarded,” but did not provide further details of the disposal method.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a separate release on October 14 that said that a total of “three customer complaints” related to the seasoned beef were issued before Taco Bell contacted the agency.
While the FSIS designated the recall as Class I, meaning “use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death,” the document did note that there have been “no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.”
Of course, safety precautions took a backseat for hangry customers who were offered a steak or chicken substitute for their choice of protein.