Metal strands in sandwich nets consumer $500 award

December 30, 2007 | Erin Herbold

Interesting items can turn up in food products, and sometimes they can cause injury.  What does it take to recover for injuries in such a case?  Under the modern approach, the injured party must prove five elements in order to recover on  a product liability claim – (1) that the defendant sold the product and was engaged in the business of selling the product; (2) that the product was in a defective condition; (3) that the defective condition was unreasonably dangerous to an ordinary user during normal use; (4) that the product was expected to reach the user without substantial change in condition and, in fact, did so;  and (5) that the product defect was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury or damage.

In this case, the plaintiff purchased a chicken sandwich at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.  Upon eating the sandwich, the plaintiff bit into a metal strand from a kitchen scouring pad.  The strand cut the inside of her mouth.  She sued and the trial court awarded her $500 for her anxiety and $81 for the dental check-up.  The plaintiff didn’t believe the award was sufficient and appealed, claiming she should also have been awarded damages for pain and suffering, past medical expenses and future pain and suffering.  The appellate court didn’t agree, and upheld the trial court’s ruling.  The court noted that the plaintiff’s dentist couldn’t find any permanent injury, and took specific note that the plaintiff didn’t seek medical care on the day the event occurred.  While the plaintiff claimed that she developed abscesses as a result of the chemicals metal strand and those chemicals entered her lymphatic system, she couldn’t produce any evidence to support her claim.  Also, the plaintiff claimed that she suffered from nightmares, anxiety and nausea after the incident, but the court was unconvinced.  So, while it appeared that all five of the elements could have been established, the plaintiff failed to prove the one item that the elements of product liability are based upon – that she actually suffered the injuries that were claimed.  Erickson v. Raheel Foods, Inc., No. 7-764/07-0466, 2007 Iowa App. LEXIS 1248 (Iowa Ct. App. Nov. 29, 2007).