Washington - The United States has "the safest food in the world," Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said Friday in refusing to second-guess jurors who returned a verdict that TV host Oprah Winfrey did not slander the beef industry.
"I think we have the safest food in the world but the jury made their decision based upon other issues," Glickman told reporters. He was referring to comments by jurors that their verdict on Thursday was a vote for freedom of speech.
Glickman said he would not comment on the merits of the case but he said he agreed with Paul Engler, one of the ranchers who filed the federal suit, that "U.S. beef is safe."
Engler was among ranchers who filed suit after an April 1996 program by Winfrey on food safety. They alleged that Winfrey and a guest, Howard Lyman, deliberately and maliciously attacked the beef industry. The suit asked for $11 million in damages for lower prices allegedly due to the show.
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