Whatever it is, it's not beef, according to Montgomery, Ala.-based law firm Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles. The firm, representing a California woman in its class-action suit against Taco Bell, claims that the QSR chain advertises the filling in its menu items as "ground" or "seasoned" beef. The firm says that what's really rolled up in those burritos is only about 35% beef. The rest, argues the firm, is binders, extenders, preservatives, and additives. The United States Department of Agriculture website calls "ground beef" chopped fresh or frozen beef -- with or without seasoning -- that …

The automaker has increased the size of its vehicle inspection teams; installed brake override systems and accident data recorders in new vehicles; created new training centers for manufacturing and supplier managers; and installed new lines of communication between U.S. operations and the Toyota C-suite in Japan. It has also created a "devil's advocate" system for vehicle design by which the company gives engineers an extra month to take apart new vehicles and evaluate them.

The NFL drew record numbers on TV broadcasts this season and is keeping up the momentum on the run-up to Super Bowl XLV. More than three of ten Americans who follow more than one sport say NFL is their favorite sports, while two in ten say baseball according to a new survey from The Harris Poll. It is the ninth consecutive Harris Poll in which pro football has had a double-digit lead over baseball. The NFL says the 2010 season is the most-watched ever.

Detroit News columnist Daniel Howes says stability suffers when a company gets four new CEOs in less than two years. "Top management keeps changing, the vision for the company changes," he writes, pointing out that last week CEO Dan Akerson moved long-timer Tom Stephens up to chief tech officer and gave product development to Mary Barra. Howes says Barra, the former assistant to chairman Jack Smith, had better have the right stuff for the job. He argues that if GM loses its momentum in product development "That carried it into bankruptcy and is now driving it out," the …

General Motors' new CEO Dan Akerson has made a number of top-level management changes that GM announced last week. They show that the company's new leadership can do what General Motors used to be incapable of doing: move fast. Akerson's choice of Tom Stephens as the company's first global technology officer shows both how much the automaker and the industry at large have changed: a business that used to be about looks and power is now driven as much by apps and alternative powertrains. The company also broke a glass ceiling or two by making Mary Barra …

Even though in October Fox said all ad slots were sold out for the game, at least seven from last year aren't coming back. Advertisers who have opted out include Papa John's, Intel, Monster, Denny's and Universal Orlando. The reason, per one analyst, is that the media deals on the table last year are nowhere to be seen for the 2011 Super Bowl.

The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker will open the envelope on Friday, but early buzz says the company will report profit in the neighborhood of $8 billion, excluding onetime charges. Annual profit-sharing checks to be cut in March will give the local economy a much-needed $240 million leg up, according to David Sowerby, an economist with Loomis Sayles.

The new MTV show "Skins" is proving to be a bit too much for a roster of advertisers, who are now pulling ads from the bacchanalian romper room. The Parents Television Council's advocacy campaign to can the show has gotten several brands to pull support. H&R Block is the latest, though the company said it had never intended to advertise there in the first place, and its ad ran accidentally.

It's not hula-hoops or flagpole sitting, but product trends this year are a bit wacky, which is good news for the economy because consumer brands are coming out with new products. Chicago consultancy Mintel says last year saw an increase in new-product introductions after a dismal 2009. The firm says about 40,820 new products were introduced in the U.S. last year, up from 38,738 in 2009. Here are some of the trends driving product development this year: simplification of consumers' lives; looking younger without spending big; quick food; thrifty gear for professional-style hair care; faux homemade products; and …

Google marketing and revenue has been bullet proof and so is its revenue stream. It's a good time for Larry Page to return to the helm. But Facebook, Twitter, Groupon are just some of the rocks under the surface that could knock a hole in the company's hull.