Did 'pink slime' cost him his job?

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

According to The Associated Press, a former worker at a defunct beef processing plant in North Dakota is suing ABC News, charging that its use of the term "pink slime" cost him his job.

In May, Beef Products Inc. closed its three plants in Texas, Kansas and Iowa. The worker, Bruce Smith, charges that the American Broadcasting Companies Inc. and a number of journalists, a celebrity chef and some unnamed defendants "recklessly and knowingly made untrue statements about the product during newscasts." Beef Products Inc. refers to its output as "lean, finely textured beef." Smith already wrote a book called "Pink Slime Ate My Job."

The worker's lawsuit is being added to a US$1 billion BPI suit against ABC launched in September, charging that a "month-long disinformation campaign" was waged against the company last spring and that, during that time, sales of its products fell to less than two million pounds a week from five million pounds.  BF