February 18, 2024
Posted by: OFT Food Safety & Injury Lawyers
Food-borne illness is preventable, but if a restaurant or grocer neglects to handle food correctly, you or your loved ones could suffer the consequences. Bacteria is one of the main causes of food poisoning. By properly storing, cooking, and preparing food, bacteria-related food poisoning cases can be avoided.
Learn more about bacteria-related food poisoning, current outbreaks, and how a food poisoning lawyer can help. You could potentially get compensation if another party’s negligence caused your food-borne illness.
Bacteria-caused food poisoning is a very serious concern. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that food-poisoning sickens 48 million people a year. Out of those, 128,000 need treatment at a hospital. The CDC reports that about 3,000 of these people die every year.
In addition to the dangerous effects of food poisoning itself, such as vomiting and diarrhea, severe dehydration, and high fever, it can lead to other health issues.
Some of them include brain and nerve damage, kidney failure, and meningitis.
There are thousands of different bacteria in the world, and many do not cause food-borne illnesses. Fewer than a dozen bacteria are responsible for most cases of bacterial-related food poisoning.
Most people get salmonella by eating tainted undercooked and raw foods. But even cooked foods can cause salmonella if they encounter contaminated surfaces. Salmonella causes stomach distress and other issues—if it spreads beyond the intestines, it become life-threatening.
E. coli, or Escherichia coli, bacteria lives in animal intestines. People most often become ill from it after eating contaminated beef, drinking unpasteurized milk, or consuming soft cheeses. Most people start to see symptoms that include diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and other signs within three to four days of exposure.
Undercooked chicken, foods contaminated by raw chicken, and unpasteurized milk are some of the most common causes of campylobacter food poisoning. Like other bacteria causing food poisoning, symptoms include diarrhea, often bloody, vomiting, stomach pain and cramps, and fever.
Shigella bacteria causes an estimated 450,000 infections in the country annually. You can get it from eating food prepared by someone who has it. You can also get it through contaminated water. Shigella causes serious stomach distress and can lead to severe dehydration.
It is important that you see a doctor when you have symptoms of food poisoning. To bring a food poisoning claim, you must have evidence that eating at a restaurant or food you bought from the store made you sick. Your doctor can rule out other possible illnesses and determine whether food poisoning is the cause.
Evidence for your claim will include your medical records and bills for your treatment. Ask other members of your party if they became sick after eating. If so, this could be strong evidence that the establishment where you ate or bought food caused your food poisoning.
Keep records of where and when you ate the food, when you became ill, what your symptoms were and how long you experienced them.
When you are considering a food poisoning claim, call an attorney for help. Your lawyer for food poisoning will investigate what happened to you and gather all the evidence for your claim. They will help you determine how much compensation to pursue and will represent you in seeking financial justice.
When you have sustained food poisoning and are considering a claim, you probably have many questions. Here are answers to a sampling of common questions we get.
Food injury law is very intricate. A food poisoning lawyer is familiar with the various government regulations and health codes governing food safety. While any personal injury attorney can file a legal claim on your behalf, a lawyer who specifically focuses in this area understands what evidence is necessary to build a successful claim for maximum value.
A food poisoning claim’s worth is calculated by the severity of illness and the damages suffered. Typically, more severe the illness the higher the damages. Damages in these cases may include medical bills, lost time at work, pain and suffering, and other losses. Other factors in calculating a food poisoning claim’s worth include the degree of negligence of the at-fault party and how much insurance coverage they have.
The party who prepared or sold you tainted food can be held liable. This could be a restaurant, grocery store, food supplier, food transporter, or food processing plant. Your food safety attorney will investigate how your illness occurred to hold all responsible parties accountable.
Settlements with at-fault parties and their insurers can often be settled in food poisoning cases. If your attorney can negotiate a fair settlement, then you will not have to take your case to trial to get payment. If a fair settlement cannot be reached, your case will have to be resolved in court by a judge or jury.
To get answers that apply to your specific case, reach out to our Minnesota law firm to speak with a knowledgeable food poisoning lawyer.
Getting food poisoning is a terrible experience that could land you in the hospital. You should expect that the food you buy at a store or restaurant would not make you sick. Unfortunately, that is not the case and food contaminated by dangerous bacteria makes its way into our food supply far too often.
If you or a family member became ill because of bacteria-related foodborne illness, you may have a claim for compensation. OFT Food Safety & Injury Lawyers in Minneapolis, MN can advise you of your options once we learn about your case. Call us at (888) 828-7087 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.
