NEW YORK — A New York City man is suing Taco Bell for false advertising, claiming that the fast-food chain is not making many of its menu items as they are portrayed in the company’s advertisements.
Frank Siragusa, of Queens, filed the lawsuit on Monday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York, The Washington Post reported. Siragusa is filing the class-action suit on behalf of himself and other customers who are disappointed in the amount of filling in Taco Bell’s Mexican Pizza and Crunchwrap menu items, according to the newspaper.
“Taco Bell advertises larger portions of food to steer consumers to their restaurants for their meals and away from competitors that more fairly advertise the size of their menu items, unfairly diverting millions of dollars in sales that would have gone to competitors,” the filing stated, according to court records.
The lawsuit filing included multiple side-by-side photographs that compare Taco Bell’s advertisements with what the food actually looked like, USA Today reported.
Menu items included the Crunchwrap Supreme, Grande Crunchwrap, Vegan Crunchwrap, Mexican Pizza and Veggie Mexican Pizza, Forbes reported. Siragusa claims in his complaint that the alleged misrepresentation of the menu items resulted in “unfair and deceptive trade practices.”
Siragusa “expected the Mexican Pizza that he purchased to contain a similar amount of beef and bean filling as contained in the pictures of the Mexican Pizza in Taco Bell’s advertisements,” according to the lawsuit.
However, the product that Siragusa bought contained approximately half of the beef and bean filling that he expected, the lawsuit states.
A representative for Taco Bell did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.
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The Mexican Pizza is a pair of crunchy tortillas that contain a meat-filled middle that is topped by cheese and other garnishings, the newspaper reported. Taco Bell returned the item to its menu last year after receiving backlash for removing it in 2020, the Post reported.
The lawsuit is the latest in a string of recent lawsuits against fast-food and chain restaurants.
In March, a Chicago man sued Buffalo Wild Wings, claiming the restaurant’s “boneless wings” were actually cheaper chicken breast tenders, USA Today reported. Buffalo Wild Wings has denied the allegations.
McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s were sued last year over the size of their cheeseburgers, according to the newspaper.
None of those lawsuits have been resolved.
One of Siragusa’s attorneys, Anthony Russo, represented a Florida Burger King customer last year in a similar lawsuit to the Taco Bell litigation, the Post reported.
Siragusa’s lawsuit states that all people who bought one of the menu items at a New York Taco Bell on or before July 31, 2020, are eligible to be part of the lawsuit, Forbes reported.
Siragusa is also asking the court to prevent Taco Bell from selling the items unless they “provide corrected advertising,” the magazine reported.