I don't know what Taco bell is like these days. But several years ago, I worked there when I was in college. At the time, I actually was very proud of the way the food was prepared there and would have recommended it to anyone. Everything was always fresh (at least at the store I worked at). We diced the tomatoes, shredded the lettuce, grated the cheese, and chopped the onions daily. The meat was carefully cooked, drained, and mixed with the seasoning. The thing with the hot water table was merely to keep the meat hot on the assembly line, and it was timed to prevent it from sitting there too long.

Of course, I don't know how the ground beef itself was made, but it didn't seem any different than the stuff you get at the grocery store. But arguments against ground beef in general are a completely different issue than arguments against fast food chains.