Food adulteration

When food is mishandled, improperly stored or poorly prepared, there is the risk of contamination. While most contaminants such as bacteria, viruses and parasites are either eliminated during preparation or fail to affect us, some can cause serious harm to victims.

Personal injury cases involving food adulteration or contamination are difficult to prove and require an experienced Phoenix, AZ food poisoning lawyer like David R. Farney who understands the necessary steps and criteria.

Effects of food poisoning

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over 76 million instances of foodborne illnesses occur annually; of those, 325,000 require hospitalization, while about 5,000 deaths occur due to foodborne illnesses every year.

Most commonly, the effects of food poisoning are uncomfortable but relatively mild, and include vomiting, diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps that last anywhere from a few hours to several days. But the most serious types of food poisoning have potential to do significant long-term or permanent harm. Food poisoning can result in kidney failure, respiratory failure, neurological diseases, internal bleeding and even death.

Filing a food poisoning lawsuit

If you’ve suffered measurable injury or losses as a result of food adulteration or contamination, David R. Farney’s food poisoning law firm in Phoenix, AZ can help you seek damages.

You must prove the following four conditions to win your case:

• Fault — That the responsible party, such as a food handler, seller or processor, did something that led to the item becoming contaminated
• Contamination — That the food item was, indeed, contaminated with a bacterium, virus or parasite (must be confirmed microscopically)
• Causation — That the illness you suffered was caused by ingesting the contaminated food item Damages — That you suffered real physical, financial and/or emotional loss or pain as a result of the food poisoning