A viral photo of a Taco Bell employee licking a stack of taco shells has cost the tongue-wielding prankster and the co-worker who took the photo their jobs.
In the photo posted on Taco Bell’s Facebook page, a glazey-eyed worker in California is seen with his tongue touching the taco shells, but it is not clear if the food is heading for the trash bin or to customer’s mouths.
The unpleasant possibility that customers might have been served the offending taco shells caused an online furor over the weekend, but Taco Bell has moved quickly to assure customers that they were never in danger.
“Our food handling procedures are strict and we have zero tolerance for any violations,” Taco Bell said in a statement released today.
“The taco shells were used for training in March before we launched a new product, and were in process of being thrown out.”
In March, Taco Bell released the much anticipated Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos and the company held a competition for employees where they were encouraged to snap pictures of themselves enjoying the new product.
But it is not clear if the employees who engaged in the prank were training for Locos Tacos.
Unfortunately, the two employees broke the rules when they published the photo for the world to see and now they are paying the consequences.
The photographer, who cannot be seen in the photo, no longer works at Taco Bell, while the young man licking the taco shells has been suspended and is in the process of being fired, according to Taco Bell.