Attorney General's News Release

May 30, 2000

Nixon obtains agreement from Dierbergs to pay $74,000 for misreprenting quality of ground beef

Jefferson City, Mo. — St. Louis-area grocery store chain Dierbergs has agreed to pay a total of $74,000 in costs and penalties under an agreement with Attorney General Jay Nixon to resolve allegations that it advertised and sold inferior cuts of ground beef as more expensive cuts.

A joint investigation by the Attorney General's Office and the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service resulted in allegations that Dierbergs combined lesser cuts of meat into ground beef, then packaged and sold that product variously as ground chuck, ground round, "ground round quality," and sirloin patties.

"When the price difference between ground sirloin and ground beef is as much as a dollar a pound, consumers rightly expect to get the higher quality meat they are paying for," Nixon said. "With this agreement, consumers can be assured they will get what they pay for."

Nixon praised the work of USDA compliance officers who assisted with the case, saying they provided invaluable help to the Attorney General's Office with the investigation.

Under the assurance of voluntary compliance filed today in Cole County Circuit Court, Dierbergs also agreed to not represent that any of its meat or meat products consist of anything other than its actual content.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818