Beef Products, Inc. (or “BPI”) is mad. You may have never heard of BPI, but you have probably heard of their product, lean finely-textured beef (“LFTB”). Of late, LFTB has gained some prominence in the public eye under the slightly more-descriptive name “pink slime.”

BPI is not happy that people in the media are calling their product “pink slime,” and they believe that it is hurting their business. They are therefore doing what we in this country always do: suing.

[BPI] has just filed a defamation (“veggie libel”) lawsuit for $1.2 billion (!) against an amazing cast of characters:

• ABC News (owned by Disney)
• TV news anchor Diane Sawyer
• ABC correspondent Jim Avila
• ABC correspondent David Kerley
• Gerald Zirnstein , former USDA employee who invented the term “pink slime”
• Carl Custer, former USDA employee
• Kit Foshee, whistleblower former BPI employee

From what I understand, the concern is not just that the concept of “pink slime” is kind of gross. People have raised health concerns as well, due to questions of ammonia content or something. BPI disputes that the process that involves ammonia poses any danger to consumers.

I get that we cannot expect, as end users in a vast, complex society, to receive our consumer goods in anything much resembling their natural state. We’ve probably all been to Subway or Blimpie and seen the giant cylindrical loaves of turkey (just like the Pilgrims ate!) Continue reading →