I have been litigating foodborne illness cases for three decades. The key to my success has been to find a quick, reliablemethod of distinguishing between legitimate food poisoning claims and suspect ones. The key is causation – did the food product cause the illness. If you can prove causation, you should consider legal action.
In my experience, the food industry, from farmer to retailer to restaurant, tends to over-emphasize the specious claimand under-value the legitimate claim. It is an unfortunate situation that increases the likelihood of the industry missingimportant measures to improve food safety. By failing to improve food safety, the industry runs the risk of poisoningconsumers and attracting expensive litigation that often results in public relations nightmares. My goal has been to bring forth only legitimate claims that have caused substantial personal damages and force the food industry to think about the real costs of food safety.
At Marler Clark, people who have been sickened, and believe that their illness resulted from consumption of a particularfood item, contact us virtually every day. The vast majority do not make it through our initial screening process, due to a lack of a reliable link between the illness and a specific source. There are several methods for recognizing suspect food poisoning claims, but it begins with understanding the science.