There are several regulating agencies that help to prevent food borne illness and injury. However, while they are helpful in preventing consumer injury, they cannot completely prevent 100% of incidences in which people are injured or become ill due to food illness.
Food illness and injuries are prosecuted under a branch of personal liability called products’ liability. Oftentimes, a consumable is only pulled from the shelf when there have been consumer reports of illness after consuming the product. It is not unusual for a dozen food injuries or illnesses to crop up, only for the negligent manufacturer to pull the food from the shelves. Food borne injury or illness could have been due to a variety of factors including a manufacturer’s inability to package correctly, list an allergen on the food label, contamination or any other safety concerns.
If a recall has occurred it will fall under a class of contamination, which essentially lets a consumer know how dangerous the recalled consumable is. The steps manufacturers take in an instance of food recall is due to strict regulations governed by the USDA and other government regulators.
Serious issues can result after a consumer comes into contact with a dangerous food or drink. Food bourn illness can land a person in the hospital, which can rack up thousands in necessary care. It is possible a person could even die, especially if the manufacturer did not list an allergen on their food labels. The USDA takes food borne injury and illness seriously, for obvious reasons.
Source: injury.findlaw.com, “Food Recalls,” Accessed May 15, 2017
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