Many of us have a hard time with the harsh realities of the fast food industry, some even turn a blind-eye when it comes to the calorie count attached to some of America's favorite foods, but recently a picture showed up on Facebook that turned people off in a whole new way.
Consumerist released a photo on Monday of a Taco Bell employee licking a stack of about 30 empty hard taco shells.
The caption under the photo reads, "Dear fast food employees of the world: Please don't do stupid things like this. Thanks."
Since the photo's release, it'S gone viral, receiving an influx of attention and disgust on a number of online platforms.
"Jackwads who do things like this and then post it to Facebook want it to be seen, and therefore throw all the rights to privacy and anonymity out the window," one person said. "Besides, he fully deserves every ounce of spite and hatred that comes his way from this."
The attention pushed for Taco Bell to respond quickly in an official statement defending the company's image.
"We have strict food and handling procedures and zero tolerance for any violations," the fast food company said in a statement. "We will not tolerate this type of behavior, and particularly its impressions on our customers, fans, franchises, and team members."
It added, "When we learned of the situations, we immediately contacted the restaurant's leadership, and although we believe it is a prank...we are conducting a full-sale investigation and will be taking swift action against those involved."
It's unclear if any of the shells in the photo were served to customers.
In 2007, Taco Bell faced another health scandal when one of their locations in an upscale New York City neighborhood was overrun with rats after employees had left for the day.
