Beef Products Inc. to Sue ABC Over “Pink Slime” Defamation

The lawsuit alleges that ABC News' coverage of the "pink slime" controversy misled consumers into believing that the product was unsafe, even though it had been approved for human consumption by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

14 Sep 2012 --- Beef Products Inc. (BPI), a South Dakota meat company whose lean, finely textured beef product was dubbed "pink slime" this year, has sued ABC News for defamation and is seeking $1.2 billion in damages.

BPI alleges that ABC reporters and hosts made 200 false statements over the course of a month about BPI's product, known in the industry as lean, finely textured beef (LFTB).

"[ABC] did this with malice, and they knew what they were doing," Dan Webb, an attorney with Winston & Strawn LLP representing the company, told reporters at a press conference at the company's headquarters. "They decided to destroy this business... and they decimated the product in the marketplace."

The company, which after the controversy closed three of its four plants and laid off 700 workers, filed suit in state court in Elk Point, S.D., this week.

It alleges that ABC News' coverage of the "pink slime" controversy misled consumers into believing that the product was unsafe, even though it had been approved for human consumption by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The lawsuit names as defendants ABC News, owned by Walt Disney Co., as well as anchor Diane Sawyer and reporter Jim Avila, among others.

The suit says that in a 30-day period, the news organization made "200 false and disparaging statements regarding BPI and its product," and as a result, Beef Products saw its sales drop by 80%.

Lean, finely textured beef, as the product is known, is made from beef trimmings and undergoes a process to remove fat. It is treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria. It was given the moniker "pink slime" by a former USDA scientist.

After ABC News began reporting on the product, Beef Products faced a widespread consumer backlash and grocery chains nationwide began pulling beef containing the product from their meat sections.

Jeffrey W. Schneider, senior vice president for ABC News, said in a statement, "The lawsuit is without merit. We will contest it vigorously."

As other media outlets began covering the "pink slime" debacle, the beef industry attempted to mount a defense of lean, finely textured beef. The American Meat Institute sought to ease consumers' fears by providing fact sheets on the product.

Even elected officials came to the company's defense. Governors from Texas, Kansas and Iowa, states where Beef Products had plants, toured the facilities and urged consumers not to reject the product.

The “pink slime” uproar prompted Beef Products to suspend operations at plants in Garden City, Kan.; Amarillo, Texas; and Waterloo, Iowa. The plants in Iowa and Kansas each produced about 350,000 pounds of lean, finely textured beef per day, and the one in Texas produced about 200,000 pounds a day, however.