Can You Sue Over Food Poisoning?

Food poisoning is unfortunately a fairly common occurrence, whether it results from an improperly cooked meal at home, a restaurant meal, or a contaminated food item bought at the grocery store or a farmer’s market. Contaminated food causes illness in approximately 4 million Canadians every year.

Food poisoning is never a pleasant experience, and a severe case could significantly disrupt your life. Some food poisoning incidents are serious enough to warrant a lawsuit against the liable party.

At Findlay Personal Injury Lawyers, we have decades of experience helping personal injury victims in Hamilton and the surrounding areas of Ontario. We will analyze whether you have a case based on the following criteria and our experience with food poisoning-related personal injury cases.

How Severe Was Your Food Poisoning?

If you were in and out of the bathroom for a day with no real lasting damage done, it may not be worth the time and expense to sue. On the other hand, if you were hospitalized and had to miss a significant amount of work, then you may be able to recover a good amount of damages. Compensation in a serious food poisoning personal injury case can include:

• Medical expenses
• Lost income
• Pain and suffering

In addition, if your child or elderly relative got seriously sick from food poisoning, then you may have a strong case. Children and the elderly are much more at risk of being seriously harmed, sometimes fatally, by foodborne illness. If a loved one has died of food poisoning, you may be able to file a wrongful death claim.

Can You Prove the Cause of Your Food Poisoning?

In order to have a successful food poisoning case, you must be able to prove that your illness was caused by a specific restaurant or food item. This may be difficult if your food poisoning onset was delayed, or if you ate a few meals before becoming sick.

One thing you can do is visit a doctor and have a stool sample tested for food-borne pathogens. If you are suffering from food poisoning, it is always a good idea to seek medical treatment, even if you don’t think you need it. A doctor can check to make sure your illness isn’t worse than you thought.

It can be easier to pinpoint the food that caused of your illness when multiple people are affected. For example, since April 2019, 76 cases of Salmonella have been reported across Canada that have been linked to Celebrate brand frozen desserts, resulting in a recall of the affected products.

Class Action Food Poisoning Lawsuits

In some cases, when many people fall ill from the same food source, a class action lawsuit can be filed on behalf of all the victims. Some examples include:

• A class action lawsuit against XL Foods ended in a $4 million settlement after an E. coli outbreak sickened 18 people in Canada and led to a massive beef recall.
• Maple Leaf Foods agreed to pay out up to $27 million to victims of a listeria outbreak. This outbreak sickened thousands and led to the deaths of 20 people.
• In America, ConAgra was ordered to pay an $8 million fine and $3.2 million in cash forfeitures after hundreds of people became ill from eating peanut butter contaminated with salmonella.

The personal injury lawyers at Findlay Law have experience with food poisoning cases and can do the research to see if there are grounds for a class action lawsuit.

Schedule Your Food Poisoning Lawsuit Consultation

If you believe you have a food poisoning case in Hamilton, don’t hesitate to contact Findlay Personal Injury Lawyers at 905-522-9799 for your free consultation. We will review your case and advise you of the best way to proceed. We serve clients in Hamilton, Brantford, Burlington, Stoney Creek, Niagara Falls, and other nearby areas of Ontario.