More and more outbreaks regarding food poisoning and other food related illnesses have started making the headlines in recent years. Dangerous bacteria, fungi and substances present in the food can put the life of people in danger. If you are suffering from food poisoning (or suffered recently) you are probably wondering if this is the case. You may contact your faulty products lawyer from Maryland to determine if your illness is the result of a defective food product.Food poisoningThere are many factors that can lead to this illness, but because of the time delay between when you ate the food and when the illness starts showing symptoms, it can be difficult to determine the food responsible for getting you sick. You can ask your product defect attorney from Maryland about this, because it is possible for a governmental health agency to link a particular food to an outbreak of food poisoning. This can make your product defect claim much easier and may increase your chances of receiving defective products compensation in Maryland.Theories of liability Most food poisoning lawsuits in Maryland fall under the product defect claims category and come from the idea that you bought a defective product that injured you (food poisoning). The most common theories include:
Strict product liability. In many states, there are strict product liability laws where your defective products lawyer from Maryland will not have to prove that the supplier or manufacturer was not sufficiently careful when preparing/distributing the product that caused you an illness or injury. They will only have to prove that the product you ate was already contaminated and as a result you suffered an injury or illness.Negligence. Aside to the strict products liability, you may also argue that the defendant was negligent when manufacturing/distributing the contaminated food product. In this case, your product defect attorney from Maryland will have to show that the defendant failed to exercise reasonable care (was not reasonably careful).Breach of warranties. In Maryland, there are some standards regarding food that have to be respected and if a contaminated food violated some of these rules, then it will be considered a breach of warranties. Furthermore, the existence of a contamination may also be a violation of express guarantees given by the food processor. You can determine this with the help of your injury lawyer from Maryland.Who is liable for my food poisoning?As a general rule that your lawyer already knows, you should include all parties involved in the chain of distribution of the contaminated food if you want your product defect claim to actually result in defective product compensation in Maryland. In food poisoning cases your lawyer has to trace the contamination back to its source so anyone in the chain of distribution can be the place where the food was contaminated. The food chain of distribution is usually made up of food processing companies (like farms or slaughterhouses), retailers (restaurants or grocery stores) and wholesalers, suppliers, distributers.For more information about food poisoning injury cases you can contact the best defective products lawyer in Maryland by calling (443) 569-3950 or sending an email at chris@annapolisaccidentattorney.com
