ABC and Beef Products Inc settle $1.9 bn suit over “pink slime”

ABC and Beef Products Inc announced a settlement yesterday in a $1.9-billion lawsuit against the network over its reports on a beef product that was dubbed "pink slime" by critics.

The terms of the settlement as also its amount are confidential. Dakota Dunes-based Beef Products Inc (BPI) sued ABC in 2012, saying the coverage by ABC had misled consumers into believing the product was unsafe, not beef and was not nutritious.

According to a statement by ABC spokeswoman Julie Townsend on Wednesday, throughout the case, the network had maintained that its reports accurately presented the facts and views of "knowledgeable people" about the product.

"Although we have concluded that continued litigation of this case is not in the company's interests, we remain committed to the vigorous pursuit of truth and the consumer's right to know about the products they purchase," Townsend said.

The coverage stressed that the product at the time, was present in 70 per cent of the ground beef sold in supermarkets, but was not labeled. BPI and its family owners said in a statement yesterday that the lawsuit was difficult, but necessary to start rectifying the harm suffered due to ABC's reports on lean, finely textured beef.

Dan Webb, an attorney for BPI, who spoke to  CNN Money said his clients were "extraordinarily pleased to have reached a settlement."

"This was a long road to travel for BPI," Webb said in a phone interview. "We felt the trial was necessary to rectify the enormous financial harm that had been suffered by BPI as a result of what we believed to be extraordinarily biased and baseless reporting by ABC in 2012."

The trial got underway on 5 June in South Dakota and was settled before ABC began its defence. Webb said he believed the evidence produced by  the plaintiff was well-received by the jury, and that the trial "vindicated" the lean, finely textured beef product.