Food or Beverage Injuries
Prior to 1913, it was difficult to sue a manufacturer for a defective food or beverage product because the injured person did not have a contract with the manufacturer. You had two types of lawsuits: Those arising from a breach of contract, and those arising from torts. However, if you suffered an injury because of bad food or drink, you could sue for misrepresentation, or if you suffered injuries because you were able to prove the product was dangerous.
As buying food became more commercial, more people bought food and beverages from third parties – those that sold food, but did not manufacture it. Because it was nearly impossible to hold a third party liable for something a manufacturer did, and because the manufacturer had no contractual obligation to a third party, suing for food product liability became very difficult – and expensive – until a landmark ruling in 1913.
In this ruling, the Washington Supreme Court quashed the rule that stated manufacturers were not liable to third-party consumers because they did not have a contract with the manufacturer. This was the beginning of the modern product liability laws for food and beverages.
In modern times, you can sue for many types of food and beverage injuries, and have responsible parties liable under the product liability and other theories, depending on the circumstance of the case.
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Types of Food and Beverage Injuries
Generally, food and beverage injuries may fall under several areas of law, including the following:
Product Liability
You could have a product liability case if you suffered harm because of using a defective food or beverage in a reasonably foreseeable manner. You have also to show that the food or beverage was prepared, manufactured, designed, distributed or sold in a defective manner, and that the product contained the defect when it left the defendant’s possession. For example, if a soft drink manufacturer bottled a drink without properly cleaning any of the machinery in the plant, and foreign substances were introduced to the drink, and those foreign substances made you sick, you may have a product liability case.
Negligence
To prove negligence in a food and beverage case, you must prove that the defendant owed you a duty of reasonable care and that the defendant breached that duty. For example, the defendant manufacturer boxes and ships out pallets of frozen pizza that used contaminated flour. You got sick because you ate the pizza with the contaminated flour. The defendant’s duty of reasonable care is to ensure that it uses uncontaminated ingredients. The injury you suffer is food poisoning. You would not have suffered food poisoning if the defendant had thrown away the contaminated flour, thus the defendant’s breach of its duty of reasonable care caused your injury.
Negligence Per Se
Food manufacturers and retailers, including restaurants, must abide by certain administrative regulations set forth by the FDA and other entities. These regulations are in place to keep consumers safe. If a manufacturer violates one of these regulations and/or statutes in the manufacturing of a food or drink product, such as allowing a food product that did not pass USDA inspection to be sold to the public, and the statute or regulation was imposed to prevent the type of injury you suffered, you may have a food and beverage negligence per se case.
Breach of Warranty
All states, including California, have implied warranties. These warranties cover just about every purchase you make. A “warranty of merchantability” and a “warranty of fitness for a particular purpose” are two types of implied warranties. The warranty of merchantability means that the product has to do what the manufacturer advertises. For example, you buy a food product that purports to cure cancer and the product doesn’t cure cancer, you might have a breach of warranty claim.
The “warranty of fitness” breach would apply if a manufacturer claimed that a food product was made for a particular use. For example, a manufacturer suggests that you buy a certain food product to lose weight warrants that its product will cause you to lose weight.
California Food Liability Cases
When you suffer illnesses or injuries because of food and beverages you purchased at a grocery store or was served at a food service establishment, contact a California food and beverage injury attorney.
