The cattlemen are suing Ms. Winfrey under a 1995 Texas law that holds people liable for false and disparaging statements about perishable food products. In addition to actual damages, they are seeking unspecified punitive damages. Food safety activist Howard Lyman's warnings about beef safety prompted Ms. Winfrey to swear off hamburgers on the air that day. The already weak cattle market tumbled afterward, though the defense blames other factors for the price drop. Lyman, a co-defendant, said the U.S. practice of feeding processed livestock back to cattle mirrored the custom in England.
Scientists believe the disease spread as a result.
The U.S. beef industry voluntarily banned the feeding practice in the days before the show. The government officially forbade the process last August. Under questioning from plaintiffs' attorney Joseph Coyne, the younger Engler was asked what he thought was objectionable about the show. Engler said that before the voluntary ban in 1996, Cactus Feeders fed processed cattle to cattle at three of its five feedlots. Using real feed components as props, Engler described the amount of cattle protein as less than a handful per 20 pounds of feed, most of which is corn.