IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A judge has blocked Iowa State University from releasing documents about food safety research conducted for the maker of the beef product that critics call “pink slime.”  District Judge Dale Ruigh ruled last month that releasing the information would cause “irreparable harm” to Sioux Falls, SD-based Beef Products, Inc., by revealing information about proprietary food-processing techniques.

BPI filed legal action seeking to block the release in 2010 after the records were requested by a Seattle law firm specializing in food safety. The New York Times later sought the documents.  The research was conducted by professor James Dickson, who was hired by BPI as a consultant in 2002. Dickson says his research has found that a process in which ammonia is applied to meat makes the product safer by killing bacteria.