Taco Bell Removes Potentially Tainted Beef From NC Restaurants

NORTH CAROLINA — Taco Bell recalled over 2 million pounds of seasoned beef from restaurants in 21 states, including in North Carolina, due to fears the meat could be contaminated with metal shavings. The potentially tainted beef also was removed from the restaurant chain’s distribution centers.

Taco Bell said as of Monday, all of the affected beef had been removed and discarded. The recalled beef had been shipped to distribution centers in Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia.

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

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there were three customer complaints about the metal shavings. The department said there have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions after people ate the beef.

Taco Bell issued a statement saying it moved quickly to address the problem.

“Nothing is more important than our customers’ safety, and nothing means more to us than their trust,” Julie Masino, Taco Bell’s president for North America, said in a press release. “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.”

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