Taco Bell Employee Under "Investigation" After Photo of Him Licking Taco Shells Hits Facebook

A California employee may have been playing a "prank," the site claims. Patrons disgusted nonetheless

By John Boone Jun 03, 2013 11:27 PMTags
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You find yourself in an odd predicament working at a fast food restaurant: Your service is so fast (theoretically) that you have a lot of downtime. If you work at a certain bread-based eatery, maybe you make baguettes shaped like penises. If you work at a certain fried chicken franchise, you make boobs out of mashed potatoes. (Both true stories.)

But what you do not do is swap bodily fluids with food that will later be eaten by a customer. And what you definitely do not do is take pictures of yourself doing the deed and upload them to the Internet.

One Taco Bell employee was bold gross enough to do both. "This sure says a lot about your employees, food treatment, and what they post on the internet," Facebook user JJ O'Brien Nolan posted alongside the above photo.

The photo—which apparently originated from Ridgecrest, Calif., so if you live outside of Ridgecrest congratulations, you're safe; and if you live in Ridgecrest move immediately—was shared nearly 2,000 times, ultimately forcing Taco Bell to respond.

"We have strict food handling procedures and zero tolerance for any violations. We believe this is a prank and the food was not served to customers," Taco Bell replied on Facebook (the ususally outspoken Twitter feed has remained silent). "We are conducting an investigation and will be taking swift action against those involved."

What the Taco Bell Twitter account has recently tweeted is, "The #BeefyCrunchBurrito is back." With a special ingredient too! A Taco Bell employee's spit, maybe.