While many people associate personal injury law with motor vehicle accidents, slip and falls, and so on, this is only a portion of the types of valid personal injury claims. One of the lesser discussed types of personal injury comes from foreign objects found in food.
These types of situations begin when a consumer purchases food. This could be food served at a restaurant, purchased from a gas station, or a pie purchased in celebration of pi day from your local baker or grocery store. In any of these situations, the law acknowledges that people make certain assumptions about the food they are consuming when they bite into it and are unlikely to inspect something like a pie thoroughly before eating it. Because we place this inherent trust in food we are purchasing, a certain level of care is owed by the companies preparing and manufacturing food. Failure to meet that level of care can cause injury to unsuspecting consumers.
For example, it is Pi Day, and you want some pie to celebrate. Accordingly, you buy a slice of pecan pie with vanilla ice cream on top. As you bite in to the first spoonful, instead of delicious pecans and vanilla, you are met with extreme pain and a broken tooth due to a piece of metal in the bite. Such an injury can cause significant pain and costly dental surgery.
These are often complicated cases for a number of reasons. First, the injured person may be able to bring a claim against any of the manufacturers of the pie, or the ice cream. This could include the pecan distributor, grocery store, and many others. Second, each of these parties involved will likely be blaming each other for who is at fault and how such an object found its way into the final product. Finally, many foreign objects in food cases require expert testimony about industry standard methods for processing the type of food at issue. This is significant because the manufacturer may claim to defend itself by saying that such a product is a natural byproduct of the food and therefore they are not liable. In the pecan pie example, this could happen if a pecan shell broke the person’s tooth instead of a piece of metal.
If you have been injured by a foreign object in a piece of food, you should consider speaking with the team of personal injury attorneys. At Parnell, Michels & McKay, our personal injury attorneys are prepared to speak with you to discuss the specifics of your claim and guide you through the process.
We have 2 locations to serve you:
25 Nashua Rd., Suite C5, Londonderry, NH 03053. The phone number is 603-434-6331.
137 Main St., P.O. Box 669, N. Woodstock, NH 03262. The phone number is 603-745-8600.