jim rozen writes:

As far as libel and slander are concerned, as my attorney
on retainer tells me, "truth *is* an absolute defense."

So we routinely hear.

McDonalds *never* fills up the french fries like the photo on the menu.
Calling them crooks and swindlers for this misrepresentation would be hard
to defend as "truth". You can't cast a civil dispute over quality of goods
as a criminal fraud, without being guilty of libel. Every merchant is
greedy to some extent; we can't have them all being labeled criminals, at
least not in a civil society.