ABC’s Food Lyin’

FOOD Lion appears to have won its much-publicized lawsuit against ABC-TV, but the final ruling is unlikely to be more than a slap on the wrist for the network. The real significance of the case could be that punitive damages will become simply part of the cost of doing business for tabloid TV shows, which can afford to pay them, and woe betide any future Food Lion that has the misfortune of landing in the videotape viewfinder of one of those programs.

ABC’s PrimeTime Live did a segment on Food Lion in 1992 that devastated the nation’s fastest-growing, lowest-priced supermarket chain, many of whose stores are located in low-income, minority neighborhoods. Millions of viewers saw disgruntled former Food Lion employees tell Diane Sawyer their horror stories: cheese put back out for sale after the rat bites were trimmed away; out-of-date meat and fish soaked in bleach to remove the foul smell, then redated for sale.

TM

About the Author

Thomas McArdle

Thomas McArdle was a senior writer for Investor’s Business Daily and a White House speechwriter for President George W. Bush

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FOOD Lion appears to have won its much-publicized lawsuit against ABC-TV, but the final ruling is unlikely to be more than a slap on the wrist for the network. The real significance of the case could be that punitive damages will become simply part of the cost of doing business for tabloid TV shows, which can afford to pay them, and woe betide any future Food Lion that has the misfortune of landing in the videotape viewfinder of one of those programs.

ABC’s PrimeTime Live did a segment on Food Lion in 1992 that devastated the nation’s fastest-growing, lowest-priced supermarket chain, many of whose stores are located in low-income, minority neighborhoods. Millions of viewers saw disgruntled former Food Lion employees tell Diane Sawyer their horror stories: cheese put back out for sale after the rat bites were trimmed away; out-of-date meat and fish soaked in bleach to remove the foul smell, then redated for sale.