BPI vs. ABC News, Inc. Information Resources  

A group of producers of textured beef, commonly referred to by news agencies as "pink slime" has filed a defamation suit against ABC News, Inc. in the First District Circuit Court in Union County, South Dakota.  The complaint alleges that under South Dakota Law (SDCL 20-10A-1) the ABC News, Inc portrayal of the meat as unhealthy was false and defamatory.

ABC lawyers are requesting that the law suit filed in the Union County Circuit Court be moved to Federal court because the parties are in different states.

Martha Neil, ‘Pink Slime’ Beef Producers Sue ABC, Diane Sawyer, USDA Microbiologist and Others, Seek $1.2B, ABA Journal (Sept. 13, 2012). 

Grant Schultekristi Eaton, ABC News Sued for Defamation Over 'Pink Slime', Bloomberg BusinessWeek.com (Sept. 13, 2012).

Curtis Brainard, BPI's Beef With News, Columbia Journalism Review (Oct. 3, 2012).

Brent Bozell, $1.2 Billion Examples of ABC News' Bias, FoxNews.com (Oct. 05,2012).

1. Rebecca Turano, Agricultural Disparagement Statutes:  An Overview (April 2010).

2.  Sara Lundsford Kohen, What Ever Happened to Veggie Libel?:  Why Plaintiffs Are Not Using Agricultural Product Disparagement Statutes, 16 Drake Journal of Agricultural Law 261 (Summer 2011).  Unpublished editions available for download by clicking on link.