“This lawsuit is bogus,” said Jason Derrington.

The shift manager at Taco Bell, 1301 DeKalb Ave., in Sycamore was commenting on the class-action lawsuit filed against the chain, alleging false advertising in regards to their beef.

The lawsuit, filed on Jan. 21, states that Taco Bell’s ground beef contains fillers such as soybean oil, silicon dioxide, several thickening and bulking agents, and that only 35 percent of the ground beef contains meat.

Derrington said that the lawsuit has not kept people from going to Taco Bell.

“This had no effect on business and on the amount of customers that we get,” Derrington said.

He also said the lawsuit will eventually go away.

“From what I know and heard about all of this, this lawsuit is bogus,” Derrington said. “It’s bogus and will have no lasting effect on business.”

Taco Bell has denied the accusations about their beef and in response they put out a full-page advertisement in several national newspapers. The advertisement states that Taco Bell meat contains 88 percent USDA inspected beef with the other 12 percent being a mixture of oats, starch, spices, water, and other ingredients.

Taco Bell also said on their website that the lawsuit is filled with inaccurate facts and that they plan to take legal action against anyone who makes false statements about their food.

Beverly Henry, associate professor of nutrition, dietetics, and hospitality administration, says that all fast food chains are required to list contact information for ingredients and that all ground beef has a variety of other ingredients in it.

“Seasonings and other ingredients get added for a variety of reasons,” Henry said. “For flavor, texture, and stability after cooking.”

Henry said that it would be surprising if the claims were true about Taco Bell beef as she does not believe that the company would want to risk something that big getting out to the public.

Sophomore journalism major Andrew Epstein said he isn’t entirely shocked by the claim.

“It wouldn’t be the first time that some kind of information like this surfaced about a fast food restaurant,” Epstein said. “So it’s really not that surprising.”

Epstein said that he would still eat at Taco Bell, even if the allegations about their meat were true.

“It’s good cheap food and it’s not like they are adding hazardous ingredients to the meat,” Epstein said. “It really doesn’t bother me at all just as long as it is still decent and an edible source of food and it still tastes good.”

Mike Muszynski, junior manufacturing engineering technology major, doesn’t believe the lawsuit and says he will continue to eat at the restaurant.

“I’m surprised that someone would claim that it would be only 35 percent meat,” Muszynski said. “I know a lot of products have fillers but that does seem to be a little high.”