BPI claimed sales of LFTB dropped from 5 million pounds per week to 1.3 million pounds per week in the wake of ABC's news reports, which repeatedly referred to LFTB, a beef product blended with ground beef to reduce its fat content, as "pink slime." BPI responded to the decreased sales by closing the three plants and reducing staff at its lone remaining production facility in South Sioux City and the corporate offices in Dakota Dunes.

In June, BPI settled a $1.9 billion lawsuit against ABC and correspondent Jim Avila for defamation and claims that the network had used false information about LFTB that led the public to believe the product was unsafe and not nutritious. The total amount of the settlement, reached midway through a trial in Elk Point, South Dakota, is confidential, but the Walt Disney Co., ABC's parent company, listed a $177 million litigation settlement in a quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That figure is believed to be a portion of the settlement not covered by Disney's insurance carriers.

BPI executive Regina Roth told the Sioux City Rotary Club earlier this summer that LFTB sales have rebounded to about 3 million pounds per week.

"The effects of the ABC News campaign were felt by more than just our employees and certainly continue on through today as we continue to operate only one of the four production facilities," Jochum said. "Only after we are able to re-establish markets and reopen the other plants will cattle producers, consumers and others that relied upon our production to add value to their communities be able to recover."

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