Boston Injury Lawyer Blog
The family of Derek Landon Wood is suing the Publix grocery chain for wrongful death. Wood, 11, died in 2014 after eating a chocolate chip cookie that he bought at a Publix store.
He had a serious nut allergy and ate the cookie after a store worker reassured him that it was fine to eat the dessert. The food allergy lawsuit contends that the bakery at the store failed to warn about the cookie’s ingredients, as well as about the potential for cross-contamination.
In another food injury case, the family of Scott Johnson is suing a small town diner for wrongful death. The 16-year-old was severely allergic to diary.
Johnson reportedly checked with the restaurant first to make sure the pancakes were gluten-free and dairy free. He went into anaphylactic shock right away and had to be flown to the hospital. The teenager passed away three days later.
Food allergies can be deadly. According QSR magazine, there were 63 food allergy-related fatalities from 1996 to 2006 and half of them occurred in restaurants. Massachusetts was the first state to pass laws related to food allergies and restaurants. The Food Allergy Awareness Act calls on food serving facilities to provide information about allergic reaction risks, as well as notify customers that they have to inform their server about any food allergies.
Some 50,000 people annually end up going to the hospital because of reactions related to food allergies. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology said that peanut allergies is the reason cited in over half of food allergy fatalities.
Also recently, the parents of another 11-year-old filed a food injury lawsuit. The defendant, Quorn Foods, Inc., is a food manufacturer.
They claim that their son, Miles Bengco, had a serious anaphylactic reaction from eating the fungus in Quorn’s Turk’y Burger. The company disagrees. However, over 2,000 complaints have been made by consumers who said that after eating a Quorn product they suffered from hives, diarrhea, vomiting, and breathing difficulties.
The Quorn line consists of fungus that is rich in protein. The plaintiffs said that because the label on the burger does not state that the food contains mold, they had no reason to know right away that the boy’s severe reaction was from the product.
Food Allergies and Massachusetts Injury Cases
In Massachusetts, if you suspect that your loved one’s death or your own injuries were a result of eating contaminated food, spoiled food, or because of a food allergy to ingredients that should have come with a warning, you may have reason for filing a Boston injury lawsuit or wrongful death case.
A “food defect” can also occur if food was poorly prepared, improperly stored, or served or sold past its expiration date. In such instances, there may be reason for pursuing a Boston products liability case against the responsible party or parties. Food poisoning can also happen because of E. Coli, Listeria, Norovirus, Botulusm, Hepatitis and Shigella.
Aside from illness or death, food injuries may result in medical bills, lost wages, emotional trauma, pain and suffering, and other damages.
Parents’ lawsuit says Quorn mold-based food product killed their son, The Washington Post, March 25, 2015
Food Allergy Awareneness, MaLegislature.gov
Minnesota teen with severe dairy allergy dies after eating pancakes; family sues eatery, Daily News, March 17, 2015
Lawsuit: Boy 11, Died of Allergic Reaction to Public Cookie, ABC News/AP, March 25, 2015
More Blog Posts:
Boston Food Injury Lawsuits Let Victims Recover Damages for Serious Reactions, Food Poisoning, Burns, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, March 31, 2013
Johnson & Johnson Settles Four Transvaginal Mesh Cases, Drug Injury Lawyers Blog, February 6, 2015
OSHA Confirms that Workers Have Not Been Helped by Workers Comp. Reforms, Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Blog, March 19, 2015
