Lawyers: 'Pink Slime' Lawsuit an Uphill Climb Beef Products Inc. will face a steep climb in its "pink slime" defamation lawsuit against ABC News as the South Dakota-based meat processor works to rebuild its public image, legal experts say. BPI sued ABC News, Inc. for defamation Thursday over its coverage of a meat product that critics dub "pink slime," claiming the network damaged the company by misleading consumers into believing it is unhealthy and unsafe. The Dakota Dunes, S.D.-based meat processor must prove that the network knowingly published false information and intended to harm its business. A lawyer for BPI expressed confidence that the company would prevail. But defamation- and food-law experts said the case would be difficult to win. The lawsuit seeks damages under South Dakota's defamation law, as well as a 1994 state law that allows businesses to sue anyone if they knowingly spread false information that a food product is unsafe. The company is seeking $1.2 billion in damages for roughly 200 "false and misleading and defamatory" statements about the product - officially known as lean, finely textured beef - said Dan Webb, BPI's Chicago-based attorney. The 257-page lawsuit names American Broadcasting Companies Inc., ABC News Inc., ABC news anchor Diane Sawyer and ABC correspondents Jim Avila and David Kerley as defendants. It also names Gerald Zirnstein, the USDA microbiologist who named the product "pink slime"; Carl Custer, a former federal food scientist; and Kit Foshee, a former BPI quality assurance manager who was interviewed by ABC. ABC News, owned by The Walt Disney Co., denied BPI's claims. "The lawsuit is without merit," Jeffrey W. Schneider, the news station's senior vice president, said in a brief statement Thursday. Webb expressed confidence Thursday that the company would win. The lawsuit filed in a Union County Court in South Dakota cites network reports that said the product was made with "low grade" meat, including "scraps" and "waste." ABC News also allegedly said the beef was made from connective animal tissue, when, in fact, it's made from muscle, according to the lawsuit. This year's social media uproar prompted Beef Products to suspend operations at plants in Amarillo, Texas; Garden City, Kan.; and Waterloo, Iowa. Beef Products' plants in Iowa and Kansas each produced about 350,000 pounds of lean, finely textured beef per day, while the one in Texas produced about 200,000 pounds a day. Nick Roth, director of engineering for BPI, said the company is "absolutely dedicated to rebuilding," but he conceded that it's going to be hard to get back to where they were before the controversy. Company officials said there are no plans to file for bankruptcy at this time. "The U.S. places great importance on free speech and the value of open public debate," Hamilton said. A jury may have a very difficult time finding the news stories involved here were defamatory, or that there was any intent to harm the company.