The folks at Taco Bell are letting it be known that they’re going to put up a very public fight over the recently filed lawsuit alleging that its ground beef doesn’t meet USDA standards for being advertised as ground beef.

First, there was the brief statement from curiously Australian Taco Bell president Greg Creed, then came these detailed breakdown of the ingredients. And this morning, the Bell has made their position very public with full-page print ads thanking the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

“Thank you for suing us,” reads the ad, which is running in USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and others. “The claims made against Taco Bell and its seasoned beef are absolutely false.”

The ad defends the fast food chain’s use of seasoning and other ingredients like “oats, caramelized sugar, yeast, citric acid” and others by stating, “Plain ground beef tastes boring.”

The lawsuit alleges that these extra ingredients make up an overwhelming portion of the filling in Taco Bell’s ground beef, to the point that it shouldn’t be advertised as “ground beef.” The suit is not seeking monetary damages, only to change the way Taco Bell markets the product.

However, Taco Bell continues to insist that the filling in its ground beef tacos is 88% beef, with water (3%), “Mexican spices and flavors” (4%) and the previously mentioned extra ingredients (5%) making up the difference.

Any predictions on which side will ultimately be proven correct in this showdown?

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