Taco Bell Removes Potentially Tainted Beef From MD Restaurants

MARYLAND — Fast food chain Taco Bell said it has voluntarily recalled "limited amounts of Taco Bell seasoned beef" — about 2.3 million pounds worth — over fears it may be contaminated with metal shavings. The beef was sent to distribution centers in Virginia, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio before being shipped to restaurants in 21 states across the Midwest, northern Southeast and Northeast regions, including Illinois, the company said.

The restaurants where the beef was removed were in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and West Virginia.

The potentially contaminated beef has since been discarded by all restaurants that received it, the California-based food chain said.

The problem was discovered when a customer found a metal shaving in their menu item, according to the company. According to the USDA, there have been no reports of illness or injury due to consuming the beef. A total of three customer complaints were reportedly received.

"Nothing is more important than our customers' safety, and nothing means more to us than their trust," said Julie Masino, North American president for Taco Bell. "As soon as we received the first consumer complaint, we immediately acted to remove the product from the affected restaurants and proactively worked with the supplier to inform the USDA of our steps to protect our guests."

The potentially contaminated product was produced at one plant location on only one of the two lines used to make seasoned beef, the company said.

The United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said potentially contaminated beef was manufactured by Kenosha Beef International in Columbus, Ohio, and sent to five distribution centers before being delivered to Taco Bell restaurants nationwide.

The affected beef was produced between Sept. 20 and Oct. 4.

Anyone with questions can call Taco Bell at 1-800-822-6235.