Would you like some saliva on your tacos? One Taco Bell employee thinks you certainly do!

A photo posted to Facebook shows a young, male Taco Bell employee holding a stack of about two dozen hard taco shells up to his face as he seemingly runs his tongue across their sides. (Since it is a still photograph, it’s hard to tell exactly how many tacos got the tongue treatment, but the photo suggests that the lad’s mouth muscle is in motion.)

  

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The photograph was posted on Taco Bell’s official Facebook wall by Jj O’Brien Nolan, who may or may not be the person featured in the photograph. “This sure says a lot about your employees, food treatment, and what they post on the internet,” said Jj in the message beneath his photo, which gives his location as Ridgecrest, California. On Facebook alone, the picture has almost 3,000 shares.

Taco Bell quickly responded to the photo on Facebook, saying, “We have strict food handling procedures and zero tolerance for any violations. We believe this is a prank and the food was not served to customers. We are conducting an investigation and will be taking swift action against those involved.” Taco Bell representatives responded to the Huffington Post’s request for comment with virtually the exact same message.

Taco Bell representatives told US Today that the taco shells were used as part of a training exercise, and discarded shortly after they were licked. “We will not tolerate this type of behavior, and particularly its impressions on our customers, fans, franchisees and team members. We are working with the franchisee to take appropriate action against everyone involved.”

How, exactly, Taco Bell management can know for certain that the licked taco shells were not served to customers is not known, but that is the company’s response so far to the PR crisis. As of yet, the taco licking culprit has not been identified, and the investigation into the matter is presumably continuing within the company.

Image Credit: Taco Bell’s Facebook page