ABC reaches settlement with a South Dakota meat producer in $1.9billion 'pink slime' defamation lawsuit

  • In 2012 ABC News ran reports about South Dakota-based Beef Products Inc.
  • Company sued ABC News claiming reports led customers to believe its products were unsafe
  • In one report, a former USDA scientist said its ground beef contained 'pink slime', a food additive made from trimmings and exposed to ammonia gas
  • Company claims report led to the closure of three plants and layoffs of roughly 700 workers 
  • The terms of the settlement between the company and ABC were not disclosed 

ABC News has reached a settlement with a South Dakota meat producer that filed a $1.9billion lawsuit against the network over its reports on the company's lean, finely textured beef product that critics dubbed 'pink slime', the TV network said Wednesday.

ABC spokeswoman Julie Townsend said in a statement that the network has 'reached an amicable resolution of its dispute with the makers' of the beef product. 

Townsend said the settlement terms are confidential.

'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.

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ABC News has reached a settlement with a South Dakota meat producer that filed a $1.9billion lawsuit against the network over its 2012 reports (like the one presented on the air by host Diane Sawyer above) on the company's beef product that critics dubbed 'pink slime'

ABC News has reached a settlement with a South Dakota meat producer that filed a $1.9billion lawsuit against the network over its 2012 reports (like the one presented on the air by host Diane Sawyer above) on the company's beef product that critics dubbed 'pink slime'

Former USDA scientist Gerald Zirnstein
Ground beef

In one report, former USDA scientist Gerald Zirnstein (left) said 70 percent of ground beef (right, file photo) contained 'pink slime', a food additive made from trimmings

WHAT IS PINK SLIME? 

Also called 'lean finely textured beef', pink slime is a meat byproduct.

It is made by heating beef trimmings, running them through a centrifuge, and exposing them to ammonia gas.

The resulting product is added to ground beef, often without any labels.

Pink slime is banned in Canada and banned for human consumption in the European Union. 

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Dakota Dunes-based Beef Products Inc. sued the television network in 2012, saying ABC's coverage misled consumers into believing the product is unsafe and led to the closure of three plants and layoffs of roughly 700 workers.

In one report, former USDA scientist Gerald Zirnstein said 70 percent of ground beef contained 'pink slime', a food additive made from trimmings and exposed to ammonia gas before it was used as a filler in packages labeled 100 percent beef.

After the reports aired, some grocery store chains said they would stop carrying ground beef that contained the product. 

BPI claims sales declined from about five million pounds per week to less than two million pounds per week.

Beef Product Inc., (pictured) filed the lawsuit in 2012, claiming ABC's 'vicious' reports caused three plants to shutter and roughly 700 people to lose their job

Beef Product Inc., (pictured) filed the lawsuit in 2012, claiming ABC's 'vicious' reports caused three plants to shutter and roughly 700 people to lose their job

The defamation trial against ABC and correspondent Jim Avila started in June. 

Avila and Diane Sawyer both asked the judge in the case to dismiss the lawsuit.

BPI didn't immediately respond to telephone messages requesting comment.

The actual damages BPI was seeking could have been as high as $1.9billion, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing from Disney, which owns ABC. 

BPI was also seeking 'treble' damages, or triple the amount, under South Dakota's Agricultural Food Products Disparagement Act and punitive damages.