ABC News has asked a federal court to throw out claims that it defamed Beef Products Inc. through a series of news reports about the processor’s lean finely textured beef products – dubbed “pink slime” by critics.
Reuters reports that in court papers, lawyers for the U.S. network said a September lawsuit by BPI seeks to inhibit free speech. They said the lawsuit poses a challenge to the right of a news organization "to explore matters of obvious public interest -- what is in the food we eat and how that food is labeled."