A woman in Texas has filed a lawsuit against popular fast-casual restaurant chain Torchy’s Tacos after allegedly discovering what appeared to be a cow’s tooth inside a taco she had ordered for takeaway.
Nohemi Castillo filed the complaint following the incident, which reportedly occurred on June 9 at one of the restaurant’s outlets in Austin, Texas. According to the complaint obtained by PEOPLE, she had ordered the chain’s “Democrat” tacos, a menu item prepared using barbacoa, or braised beef cheek.
“One of the tacos had what appeared to be a cow tooth in it, which she almost swallowed,” the complaint alleges.
Castillo further claims that she informed the restaurant’s manager about the discovery but questions whether any appropriate action was taken to address the incident. According to the complaint, it was “unclear what if anything he did to remedy the problem within his food and under his control.”
The lawsuit states that the discovery left Castillo feeling “grossed out and sickened,” prompting her to seek medical attention. She reportedly visited a doctor and received prescription medication following the incident.
Castillo is seeking up to $250,000 in damages, accusing Torchy’s Tacos of negligence and violations of the Texas Uniform Commercial Code and the Food Safety Modernization Act.
The complaint also names the restaurant’s parent company, Success Foods Management Group, LLC, alleging that the businesses engaged in an “unconscionable action or course of action” and “committed false, misleading or deceptive practices.”
According to the lawsuit, the restaurant allegedly “knew about various problems contained in their sold food products” before the taco was served to Castillo. The complaint further contends that “the food was not reasonably prepared, inspected, or delivered” before it reached the customer.
The legal filing also alleges that the restaurant failed to comply with provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act requiring food businesses to assess potential safety risks and establish measures to prevent or minimise contamination.
The complaint cites the law’s requirement that restaurant owners and operators “evaluate the hazards that could affect food manufactured, processed, packed, or held by such facility, and to identify and implement preventive controls to significantly minimize or prevent the occurrence of such hazards.”
Castillo’s lawyer, Steven Vasquez, said his client contacted him shortly after the incident, according to local television station KVUE.
“Her reaction was disgust — ‘What is this?’” Vasquez said, adding that the tooth was “large.”
In response to the complaint, Torchy’s Tacos said it takes food safety concerns seriously and maintains that it obtains its ingredients from quality suppliers.
The company told KVUE that it “take[s] all concerns about our food seriously” and “source[s] the highest quality food available” in a statement addressing the incident.
“Our barbacoa comes from natural beef cheek that we source from a supplier,” the statement read. “Upon receiving the guest complaint, we conducted a thorough review and identified the item as a cow tooth.”
The restaurant acknowledged that such an occurrence was possible during meat processing, although it described the incident as uncommon.
“This can occasionally happen when processing the meat, though it is quite rare,” the statement continued, adding that the company was working with its supplier to prevent similar incidents in the future.
