• Chicago Tribune, Wednesday, February 2, 2011 9:45 AM

A lawsuit that has consumers wondering what's in the taco shell at Taco Bell says the restaurant is legally constrained to call it "taco meat filling" but not "meat."

Taco Bell, which would very much like to refute that argument, may stand on firm regulatory ground. That's because the regulation upon which the lawsuit rests pertains to how manufacturers, not the end user -- in this case restaurants, should label meat.

While the USDA says "taco meat filling" is required to contain at least 40% fresh meat and must be labeled with the product name, including the word "filling," that requirement applies to raw meat sold by manufacturers. A USDA spokesperson says the agency's language doesn't pertain to what companies such as restaurants can describe to their customers in advertisements as "beef," "chicken" or "meat."

The Federal Trade Commission, which is the agency that regulates whether or not advertising is deceptive, has no specific rules that define what can be advertised as meat or beef, according to an FTC spokeswoman.

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