Taco Bell 'meat' is only 36 percent beef [Updated]

Updated: A rep for Taco Bell requested us to post this official statement:

"At Taco Bell, we buy our beef from the same trusted brands you find in the supermarket, like Tyson Foods.  We start with 100 percent USDA-inspected beef.  Then we simmer it in our proprietary blend of seasonings and spices to give our seasoned beef its signature Taco Bell taste and texture.  We are proud of the quality of our beef and identify all the seasoning and spice ingredients on our website.  Unfortunately, the lawyers in this case elected to sue first and ask questions later -- and got their "facts" absolutely wrong.  We plan to take legal action for the false statements being made about our food."

(Original post is below)
Shockingly gross news. It turns out that what passes for meat in Taco Bell's tacos, Chalupas and other vaguely Mexican offerings is actually more of a "meat product."

According to an Alabama law firm that is suing the eatery for false advertising, the chain's "Taco Meat Filling" is only 36 percent beef.

What, one hesitates to ask, is the remaining 64 percent? According to the ingredient label (which is not given to customers):

Water, isolated oat product, salt, chili pepper, onion powder, tomato powder, oats (wheat), soy lecithin, sugar, spices, maltodextrin (a polysaccharide that is absorbed as glucose), soybean oil (anti-dusting agent), garlic powder, autolyzed yeast extract, citric acid, caramel color, cocoa powder, silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent), natural flavors, yeast, modified corn starch, natural smoke flavor, salt, sodium phosphate, less than 2% of beef broth, potassium phosphate, and potassium lactate.

Reps for Taco Bell, it should be noted, deny any wrong-doing, vowing to "vigorously defend" themselves against the suit.

What's next? Will we learn the McRib isn't actually a magically edible rib rack, but a factory molded slab of marginally edible chemicals and filler?