Posted December 19, 2013
On Tuesday, attorneys for ABC and other defendants
argued their motions to dismiss in the Beef Products Inc. (BPI) “pink slime”
lawsuit, according to a Politico article available here. For background on the case, a recent post
from this blog is available here.
Kevin Baine, an attorney for ABC, said the network
stated in each broadcast that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
deemed the product safe to eat. Baine
said, “ABC never hinted that this is unsafe” and “ABC never quoted critics
saying it is unsafe.”
Eric Connolly, an attorney for BPI, argued that “those
statements in a series of news reports were coupled with negative context
calling the product filler or ‘not meat’ and implying that the FDA was not a
credible source because the agency overruled scientists in approving the food
product’s use.”
Baine argued that the use of the term “pink slime” in
the reports is protected by the First Amendment, according to an article by
KELO Land available here. “Our defendants have as much right to use the
epithet pink slime as the producer does the euphemism Lean Finely Textured
Beef,” said Baine.
The judge will consider the arguments and issue a
ruling at a later date.
