ABC-TV has settled with Beef Products Inc. three weeks into a South Dakota jury trial determining whether the company was defamed by the network's 2012 news reports that referred to its product as "pink slime."
"ABC has reached an amicable resolution of its dispute with the makers of 'lean finely textured beef,'" the network said in a statement that brought an end to a trial that began June 5 in Elk Point, South Dakota. Terms of the settlement, which also covered claims against ABC reporter Jim Avila, were not announced.
BPI had filed suit against the American Broadcasting Company seeking $1.9 billion after it lost more than 80 percent of its business, shut down three of its four production plants and let go most of its employees in the wake of a series of news reports that labeled the product as "pink slime," unsafe to eat, and not even beef or meat.
"While this has not been an easy road to travel, it was necessary to begin rectifying the harm we suffered as a result of what we believed to be biased and baseless reporting in 2012," BPI said in a statement. "Through this process, we have again established what we all know to be true about lean finely textured beef: it is beef, and is safe, wholesome and nutritious."
BPI's signature product, commonly mixed into ground beef, is made from beef chunks, including trimmings, and exposed to bursts of ammonium hydroxide to kill E. coli and other contaminants. The "pink slime' term is believed to have been coined by a microbiologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It was cited in a 2009 story in the New York Times as a term that originated in emails between scientists working at the USDA.
In his opening statement, lead plaintiff's attorney Dan Webb of Winston & Strawn noted that the "pink slime" term was used more than 400 times in the ABC television reports.
"This wasn't about the First Amendment," Webb said Wednesday. "There was no news hook, no event, no recall or case of food poisoning. ABC simply went on a crusade to put this company out of business, going so far as to come up with 'blacklists' of supermarkets that were still carrying the product. The report began on March 7, and by March 21 there was not a supermarket in America that was selling it."
The plaintiff's legal team conducted more than 120 depositions across the country as well as more than 30 expert depositions, and briefed close to 100 motions, according to Webb. It prevailed on its motion to change venue, motions to dismiss, two appeals to the South Dakota Supreme Court, and multiple motions for summary judgment.