Food and Supplements Law Explained

An experienced team of Riverside injury lawyers are finding that they are dealing with more and more cases of food poisoning. Whether they are down to chemical or bacterial contamination or bad sanitation practices, food poisoning lawsuits are on the increase.

It may be prudent at this point to say that food poisoning law doesn't just cover food poisoning, it also covers food recalls, false advertising, and allergies. Also interlinked with food law are dietary supplement law and health supplement law. The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) class these as foods rather than as drugs and that is why they are linked together. Diet pills and health supplement pills can be dangerous and many are put out on the market without being fully tested. This is because pills of this type do not need FDA approval in order to get them to market, although it does try to regulate them under the 'Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act' Of 1994.

In essence any food poisoning lawsuit will fall directly under product liability because you have been sold a defective product that has caused you harm. With this being the case there are many states which have taken on very stringent product liability laws including California. This is known as 'strict liability' law. This means that you as the plaintiff do not have to prove that it was the manufacturer that contaminated the product. Instead under strict liability, it is enough that the product (food) has caused you injury (food poisoning) and as a result the product manufacturer will be held accountable for their actions. If you have suffered food poisoning recently and you reside in California, then a team of Riverside County injury attorneys who are well versed in dealing with such issues can help.

In addition to the strict liability claim it is possible for a plaintiff to argue the case that the defendants (in this instance the manufacturers) acted negligently in the manufacturing and supply process, and that they supplied cross contaminated foodstuffs that caused you to be ill. However in order to prove negligence you must be able to show that they were indeed careless in their operation.

When we buy food we expect it to be of a standard that when we open it and use it, the product is in prime condition. This is known as an 'implied warranty' because it is understood or 'implied' that the food will be in tip top condition when it is for sale. A contamination of this food clearly breaches that 'implied' warranty and therefore this is another avenue of litigation that a skilled team of Riverside injury lawyers will be able to advise.

The Food Safety Act

In July of 2009 congress passed a law known as the Food Safety Enhancement Act which endeavors to give the FDA greater powers over the food chain and food suppliers. The main goal of this law was to clearly prevent the increase of food borne illnesses and diseases and to ensure the highest safety standards of the food that we eat. This had a direct impact on the food producers who were now subjected to more stringent regulatory checks by the FDA. This law also gave them the authority to seize all goods that were deemed not to be in perfect condition. Also it gave them the power to enforce fines upon any food plant that didn't have safety plans in place to prevent the spread of food borne viruses from occurring.

The issue is that the problem with food poisoning is bigger than at first thought, and the FDA have admitted that policing it is a mammoth task. One such problem recently was the cantaloupe outbreak which managed to kill around 25 people because of listeria. The processing plant (Jenson Farms) was found to operate rusty equipment used for packaging and the floor of the processing plant contained dirty water, this combined with the warm conditions became a breeding ground for the listeria virus.

If you have been a victim of a food poisoning case, then don't suffer in silence and put it down to experience. Instead contact a team of Riverside injury lawyers who can explain your rights today.