While we all know that fast food can come out mangled and misshapen, many of us trick ourselves into believing that the food hasn’t been pre-licked by someone behind the counter. Then we see photos like this.

A Consumerist reader just saw this photo, supposedly snapped in the kitchen of a California Taco Bell, posted to the chain’s Facebook feed. And yes, that definitely appears to be tongue-on-taco contact on those shells.

Now, as some have pointed out, it’s possible that these shells were destined for the trash bin and were never served to customers, but the fact that a Bell employee would think to take this photo and share it online — even among his friends — is enough to do damage to a company’s reputation.

UPDATE: Taco Bell has announced that these shells were never intended to be sold and that the employee in the photo is being fired.

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