Foreign Objects In Food Can Be Gross, And Dangerous

When you order or purchase food, you expect that all that will be in your food, is the food you ordered or bought. But it often happens that there are foreign objects in your food, or products in your food that shouldn’t be there. When that happens, you can be injured, sometimes quite seriously.

Foreign Object Cases

There are a number of different kinds of foreign object cases. One type is where there is something that is not food, in your food—say, a piece of packaging, or plastic or metal. There can also be something like a seed, or a chicken bone, which is technically edible, but shouldn’t be there. These cases can be very serious, because there are two opportunities for injuries.

The first is chewing or biting down on the object itself. Jaws and teeth can be shattered, as your month comes down full force expecting to simply bite into the food, only to be stopped suddenly, by the foreign object.

The other problem is that even if the object is swallowed without harm, in your system, plastic, or a large or sharp object, or a bone, can do serious damage to your digestive tract.

Some people may even have reactions to the foreign object in the food. For example, someone with diverticulitis or other digestive problems may have very bad reactions to ingesting seeds.

Unpleasantries in Our Food

Similar to these kinds of cases, are the things in food that won’t necessarily harm us, but which we don’t want in our mouth or our bodies. Blood, bug parts, or body fluids are all things that can harm us, but even if they don’t, it’s just unnerving (to say the least) to imagine that we put those things in our mouths.

These cases can be more difficult if there is no physical harm, but it is still possible to recover compensation if the foreign object was grotesque enough that a jury believes it was reasonable that someone would suffer emotional distress knowing that he or she ate or bit into the foreign object.

Improper Ingredients

There is yet another category of foreign object cases. This is where something in your food is perfectly edible, but shouldn’t be there. For example, a piece of egg in a dish that has no eggs, or a peanut in a salad that isn’t supposed to have salads. For people with allergies, inclusion of undisclosed ingredients can cause serious, sometimes even life threatening problems.

If you do encounter a foreign object in your food of any kind, you may be inclined to throw the food out. Try not to do that; rather, try to preserve the foreign object and as much of the food as you can, for as long as you can. If possible, you can photograph the foreign objects as well.

Contact our Rhode Island personal injury lawyers at Robert E. Craven & Associates at 401-453-2700 today if you are a  victim of food poisoning, or foreign objects in your food.

Sources:

mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diverticulitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20371758#:~:text=Diverticulosis%20occurs%20when%20small%2C%20bulging,lining%20of%20your%20digestive%20system.

extension.umn.edu/product-and-houseplant-pests/pantry-pests-insects-found-stored-food