Famous Food

A major U.S. beef processing company is suing ABC News for $1.2 billion -- claiming the network's coverage of a product called "pink slime" has duped consumers into believing it's unhealthy and unsafe.

The company behind the lawsuit is Beef Products Inc. -- which claims ABC News made somewhere around 200 "false and misleading and defamatory" statements about the product ... which BPI refers to as lean, finely textured beef.

In one report, ABC featured a former USDA scientist who claimed 70% of the ground beef found in supermarkets contains pink slime ... "beef trimmings that were once used only in dog food and cooking oil, now sprayed with ammonia to make them safe to eat and then added to most ground beef as a cheaper filler."

An attorney for BPI told the AP ... "[The ABC News reports have] caused consumers to believe that our lean beef is not beef at all -- that it's an unhealthy pink slime, unsafe for public consumption, and that somehow it got hidden in the meat."

A rep for ABC insists "The lawsuit is without merit" ... adding, "We will contest it vigorously."

According to the AP, a BPI rep says the ABC reports have had an "enormous impact" on the company -- with 3 of it's 4 plants shutting down since the stories hit the air ... resulting in a loss of 650 jobs.

Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse are accused of duping hungry consumers into buying bogus cooking knives ... this according to a new lawsuit.

Emeril Lagasse has been the pitchman for the cutlery, which he has been selling on the Home Shopping Network. Martha Stewart's company -- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia -- owns Emeril's product line.

The knives in question had the words "Solingen, Germany" emblazoned on the blade, leading consumers to believe the product was manufactured by the world-famous Solingen knife-makers. But according to the suit, the knives were cheap knock-offs made in China.

And this is funny. The lawsuit highlights some crappy consumer reviews on HSN's website. Por ejemplo: "That is terrible when a top chef lies to you on TV ... Emeril cannot be trusted with what he advertises." Another review says the knives "were rusting and were breaking in half."

Sofia Vergara ate a banana today.

FYI -- she's not really pregnant. The photo was shot this morning on the set of "Modern Family" in L.A. and Sofia's "pregnant" on the show.

"Iron Chef" and Food Network star Cat Cora won't be going to jail for DUI -- as long as she behaves herself -- because TMZ has learned, she just struck a sweet plea deal with prosecutors.

A rep for the Santa Barbara County District Attorney tells TMZ, Cat pled "no contest" today to driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher, stemming from her June arrest. The remaining DUI count was dropped.

Cora was sentenced to 3 years probation and 9 months of DUI school. She paid $2,386 in fines.

Cora also received a 120-day suspended jail sentence -- but she won't spend a day behind bars ... as long as she fulfills her probation and DUI school obligations.

Cora was arrested for DUI on June 17th in Santa Barbara. According to police, she admitted to drinking 3 beers and later blew a .19 on a breathalyzer ... more than twice the legal limit in California.

Cat later apologized for the arrest, saying, “I deeply regret my decision to drive that evening after my designated driver became unavailable."

Just moments after the crash, the other driver began videotaping her. Cat angrily responded by calling the driver and his passenger "nerds" with no life. TMZ posted the footage.

LL Cool J is the nicest, most generous man in the universe -- at least if you ask 5 random women who ate at Mr. Chow's in L.A. last night ... because the rapper spontaneously decided to PAY for their entire dinner ... and it wasn't cheap.

We spoke to the women outside the expensive Beverly Hills restaurant -- and no, they weren't actresses or supermodels ... they were just 5 normal women out for a nice (and pricey) dinner.

According to them, Uncle L was eating at a table next to them, and they hit it off almost immediately -- even posing for a photo with the rapper inside.

But LL decided to take his awesomeness one step further -- because when the ladies finally asked their server for the check, they discovered LL had secretly covered the giant tab on their behalf.

Drama at the Chick-fil-A same sex "Kiss-In" event in Hollywood ... TMZ has learned the chicken joint called police today claiming the MEDIA was harassing its employees.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... the Chick-fil-A staff wasn't bothered by the pro-gay marriage event taking place inside the restaurant, but felt the media was being too aggressive in trying to get commentary from Chick-fil-A employees.

Cops responded to the scene, but by the time officers arrived ... both sides had already reached some sort of truce.

Bad news if you've ever wanted to sit in the booth where ex-murder suspect Robert Blake ate with his wife ... shortly before she was shot to death outside Vitello's Restaurant in L.A. -- TMZ has learned, it's being sold at auction.

The legendary Vitello's has undergone a complete facelift in recent months -- and a rep tells TMZ, the owners now only want "positive energy" to be part of the new restaurant.

As a result, Vitello's is selling off anything that might give off bad vibes -- including the booth where Blake and his wife ate the fateful night she was shot and killed outside the restaurant back in 2001

The auction will take place on eBay August 1st -- but don't expect to get the booth for cheap ... we're told bidding will start at $1,000.

It's a great piece of Hollywood history -- Blake and his deceased wife Bonny Lee Bakley ate in the same booth several times before the infamous murder.

In fact, the table played a KEY ROLE in Blake's alibi -- he told police he couldn't have shot his wife because he was inside the restaurant at the time retrieving a gun he left on the table.

A key member of the Chick-fil-A public relations department died of a heart attack this morning ... this in the middle of the biggest PR crisis the fast food chain has ever faced.

Chick-fil-A released a statement saying, "We are saddened to report the news to you that our dear friend Don Perry, vice president of public relations, passed away suddenly this morning."

As Chick-fil-A came under fire for its stance against gay marriage ... Perry spoke on behalf of the restaurant chain in an effort to smooth things over with the public ... promising to "leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”

Chick-fil-A added, "Don was a member of our Chick-fil-A family for nearly 29 years. He was a well-respected and well-liked media executive in the Atlanta and University of Georgia communities, and we will all miss him."

He's a world class athlete ... he trains every single day ... so Rampage Jackson decided to treat himself this weekend ... by chowing down like a fat kid at the Orange County Fair.

The former UFC heavyweight champ was seen carrying a block full of deep fried curly fries and a burger this weekend ... because he felt like it.

Rampage has plenty of time to work it off ... his next fight isn't until October.

Fun Fact -- The OC Fair is famous for deep frying ANYTHING ... including butter, brownies, kool-aid, bacon, cheesecake, oreos ... you get the picture.

They say you are what you eat, so it's no surprise failed Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum loves him some anti-gay chicken.

The conservative 54-year-old just showed his support for controversial fast food chain Chick-fil-A -- whose president has been very vocal about the company's support for all things anti-gay lately -- by tweeting, "With two of my boys, Enjoying chick-in-strips and awesome peach shake at Chick-fil-A."

Then, in a reference to fellow GOP evangelical Christian Mike Huckabee's campaign for a Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day on August 1st, Santorum added, "See you here next Wednesday."

TMZ obtained the 911 call placed right after "Iron Chef" Cat Cora drunkenly crashed into another vehicle -- and according to the caller, "She was driving insane."

The caller -- who Cat rear-ended -- tells the operator, "She's just been very aggressive. Her driving style was aggressive. There was a red light. She was just driving insane."

He adds, "She was wavering around the road ... She's yelling and acting really weird."

As we reported, Cora was arrested for DUI on June 17 in Santa Barbara, CA. According to police, she admitted drinking 3 beers and later blew a .19 on a breathalyzer ... more than twice the legal limit in California.

Cat later apologized for the arrest, saying, “I deeply regret my decision to drive that evening after my designated driver became unavailable."

"Office" star Ed Helms is officially boycotting Chick-fil-A ... claiming the restaurant chain's anti-gay stance has caused him to lose his appetite.

Helms is responding to a statement issued by Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy ... who recently told a Christian publication that when it comes to accusations his company is actively opposed to gay marriage, Chick-fil-A is "guilty as charged."

Cathy claims his chicken people support the "biblical definition of the family unit." In fact, Chick-fil-A reportedly donated nearly $2 million towards religious groups that oppose gay marriage in 2010 alone.

The comments clearly didn't sit well with Helms ... who tweeted, "Chick-Fil-A doesn't like gay people? So lame. Hate to think what they do to the gay chickens! Lost a loyal fan."

Mel Gibson proved he's more than just an angry dude who yells at people a lot -- he's also an avid FRUIT JUGGLER, and TMZ has the fruity footage.

The impromptu circus act went down outside of a bar in Austin, Texas last Thursday ... Mel showed off (for a pretty lady of course) his awesome juggling skills ... and we gotta admit, he's not too shabby.

Mel lays down two separate acts for the ladies, first he juggles 3 oranges ... then he gets serious and switches it up by only using one hand (but has fewer oranges).

TMZ has obtained Cat Cora's mug shot ... taken 11 days after the celebrity chef was arrested for DUI in Santa Barbara.

The Food Network chef was popped for drunk driving on June 17 -- after she rear-ended another vehicle ... and proceeded to call the people in the other car "nerds." Cops say her blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.

Cat was released hours after she was arrested ... but never took her mug shot.

But on June 28, Cat returned to the station to take her make up photo ... and it's pretty damn good as far as mug shots go.

Cat has since apologized for the arrest -- saying, “I deeply regret my decision to drive that evening after my designated driver became unavailable. I learned a very important lesson from this experience and take full accountability for my actions.”

Like we said, the mug shot's not bad at all ... so we gotta ask ...

"Iron Chef" star Cat Cora was not a happy camper after drunkenly crashing into another car last month -- but she got even MORE pissed when she realized she was being videotaped ... by the other driver.

In case you didn't know, Cora was arrested for DUI in Santa Barbara last month after rear-ending another vehicle. According to police, she admitted drinking 3 beers and later blew a .19 on a breathalyzer ... more than twice the legal limit in California.

Cora later released a statement, saying “I deeply regret my decision to drive that evening after my designated driver became unavailable. I learned a very important lesson from this experience and take full accountability for my actions.”

But she wasn't so cool-headed when the driver of other car started recording her ... moments after the crash. Cat angrily called the driver a sad "nerd" with no life.

The driver tells TMZ, he recorded Cora on his camera phone because he believed she was drunk and wanted the video as evidence.

Increased appetite ... it's one of the clearest signs of pregnancy -- and earlier today, Kris Humphries' ex-girlfriend Myla Sinanaj finally got some relief ... dropping by a Five Guys in New Jersey ... with her new baby bump-looking belly.

It's pretty funny -- considering Kris' dad reportedly owns several Five Guys locations.

On her way out, we asked Myla about her alleged pregnancy -- but she didn't say a word.