BPI sues ABC News for defamation, seeks $1.2 billion in damages
Beef Products Inc. has filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC News for its coverage of the company's lean finely textured beef, called “pink slime” by critics. BPI is alleging that the network misled consumers to believe the product was unhealthy and unsafe, reports the Associated Press.
The Dakota Dunes, S.D.-based meat processor is seeking $1.2 billion in damages for roughly 200 "false and misleading and defamatory" statements about the product officially known as lean, finely textured beef, said Dan Webb, BPI's Chicago-based attorney. The lawsuit filed in a South Dakota state court also accuses ABC News of improper interference with the relationships between BPI and its customers.