Finding a foreign object in your food can be a terrifying experience, especially if you get physically harmed from the object. Some restaurants and supermarkets do not have the reputation of being diligent in their examinations, and as a result, some food can slip by that is contaminated in some way. There is also the added problem that food from the source of factories and such can have problems with it that the works may not know about or may not bother to correct. No matter where your contaminated food came from, you should be aware that you can take legal action against the responsible party. Our foreign object in food lawyers in San Diego at Kenmore Law Group have years of experience with clients who have injuries from such incidents, and we believe there is no one better for representing you. We promise to bring you the compensation you deserve for your damages.
Where Has Contaminated Food Been Found?
Contamination knows no limits. Even the most commonly-seen locations have had instances of injuries from a foreign object in your food. If you found something in your food from any of the following locations, you should consult with one of our attorneys to consider legal action.
Some of the restaurants and markets that have had foreign objects appear in the food include:
- Burger King
- Chipotle
- McDonald’s
- In-N-Out Burger
- Rally’s
- Jack in the Box
- Panda Express
- Chick-Fil-A
- Wendy’s
- Albertsons
- Costco
- Food 4 Less
- Foodsco
- Safeway
- Save Mart Supermarket
- Smart & Final
- State Bros
- Super A Foods
- Denny’s
- Subway
- Domino’s
- Pizza Hut
- Wingstop
- Fatburger
- El Pollo Loco
- Carl’s Jr
- Taco Bell
- Kentucky Fried Chicken
- Five Guys
- Del Taco
- Vons
- Vallarta Supermarket
- Wal-Mart Supercenter
- Target
- Whole Foods
- Pavilions
- Mission Foods
- Holiday Quality Foods
- Target
- El Super
- Trader Joe’s
At any of the restaurants, you could have found a foreign object in your sandwich, seen a foreign object in your taco, or choked on something that was lodged in your burger. You should make sure to find an adequate attorney if you found a foreign object in your food or if you found something in your sandwich. The damages you could suffer may be severe.
How Contamination Happens
Unfortunately, food can get contaminated at numerous points of its journey from the source to your mouth. If you are eating steak or pork, there is the chance that what the animal was fed will be present in the food since the animals are usually taken right from the pens. You may find a cherry pit, bones, hay, grass, and other miscellaneous foods present in your meal.
While at a factory, workers may be negligent in their duties; items can fall onto conveyor belts or into machines and wind up being dispersed into food. Some examples of this include wood bits and wood shavings, a pencil, a ring, a pen, a band-aid, wires, staples, and more. While preparing food, things can also break off and become lodged, such as glass, nail, screw, and others. There is even the risk that these workers can get injured while on the job and wind up having pieces of body parts left behind and sent out – human fingers have been reported in some food, for instance.
Of course, workers at restaurants can also be blamed for contamination. Routinely, we see hair, fingernail, jewelry, a spoon, and more end up in customers’ meals. They may simply not be paying attention while preparing the meals, which can cause disastrous consequences. Additionally, some eateries are not too clean; there have been reports of finding feces or a rodent in meals, or rocks or a pebble.
If there was metal found in your food, like a coin, or if you bit into something hard and broke your tooth or multiple teeth, you should look into legal action with the help of a lawyer that’s experienced in foreign object in food cases.
Course of Action
There is generally a standard course of action or procedure that you should follow upon finding something in your food that should not be there. You should follow these steps to ensure that you have the best chance at filing a lawsuit. If you are not careful, you could easily receive nothing if the restaurant has its way. Our clients usually ask us questions about what to do in case they find a foreign object in their meals. For example, they’ll say:
I Found Plastic In My Food. What Do I Do?
- Take photos of the piece of plastic.
- Call over the manager and alert the staff to the problem.
- File an incident report with the restaurant.
- Do not return the food or ask for a refund.
- Take the food and the object home.
- Go to a doctor if you swallowed the plastic or if your mouth were hurt during the meal.
- Reach out to a foreign object in food lawyer.
I Found A Metal In My Food. What Do I Do?
- Do not return the food or the piece of metal.
- Take pictures of the food and the object.
- Get statements from people nearby testifying to what they saw and what happened.
- Notify the restaurant or store of the trouble.
- File an incident report with the party.
- Take everything home with you.
- File your receipt or proof of purchase.
- Seek medical assistance if you were injured from eating the metal.
- Call a foreign object in food lawyer in San Diego.
Your goal should always be to preserve your evidence and to find a qualified attorney to handle your case. If you do not have sufficient legal help, it may be difficult or impossible for you to receive any compensation. The restaurant or market will likely fight tooth and nail to keep their businesses free of any negativity or criticism, and they will also try to retain as many profits as they can.
Injuries from Contaminated Food
You may suffer a number of different types of injuries depending on the object you find in your food. Some are damaging to your mouth; a piece of metal or something sharp could easily cut your tongue, cheeks, roof of your mouth, throat (if swallowed), and more. If you forcefully bite into something that has something hard inside it, you could break or crack your teeth.
Eating or digesting some objects can lead to sickness or adverse medical conditions. Not all items are digestible, and their presence in your digestive tract can cause long-term issues and blockages. They may even puncture holes or prevent digestion from happening. If you eat something like feces or dirt, you could get sicknesses like E. Coli, salmonella, ulcers, infections, and more.
Some restaurants have already faced lawsuits in the past, such as Burger King, Chipotle, McDonald’s, In-N-Out Burger, Rally’s, Jack in the Box, Panda Express, Chick-Fil-A, Wendy’s, Denny’s, Subway, Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Wingstop, Fatburger, El Pollo Loco, Carl’s Jr, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Five Guys, and Del Taco. These eateries have been forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to victims who have gotten sick from contaminated food or who found various foreign objects in their meals.
Grounds for a Lawsuit
Restaurants and supermarkets have to provide you with safe food. They have a duty of care to their customers, and if they are negligent in that duty, they can be sued for the ensuing damages. There are four points of negligence that must be met: you must have been owed a duty of care that was breached, and that breach must have resulted in an accident that led to physical harm. In the case of food, workers and employees who did not properly prepare or check food for foreign objects breached that duty and caused you to suffer harm when you bit into the meals.
A San Diego lawyer to sue a restaurant for a foreign object in your food can help you receive the compensation you deserve.
Statute of Limitations for a Foreign Object in Food Lawsuit
In California, you have two years from the date of the injury to file a claim against the responsible party for your damages. If you wait too long, you will not be able to receive any compensation at all. Statutes of limitations exist so that claims can quickly be resolved and not take up unnecessary time.
However, two years is not a hard limit; there are exceptions that can be made that will allow the statute of limitations on your case to be lengthened. Such examples would include being underage at the time of the incident, being mentally or physically incapacitated after the injury, the departure of the defendant from the state or country, and more.
Earnings from a Claim
With the help of a San Diego attorney to sue the restaurant for a foreign object in your food, you could earn various types of compensation for your damages. You should not be expected to pay for your medical expenses and anything else if you were hurt as a result of a restaurant’s negligence. Our law firm with experience in foreign object in food cases can bring you coverage for:
- Medical bills from the past and future
- Lost wages from the past and future
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering damages
Don’t be limited to a measly offer from the insurance agency. Let our lawyers represent you and help.
Kenmore Law Group’s Promise to You
At Kenmore Law Group, we strive to provide our clients with the fairest representation. We promise to work around the clock to negotiate the best deal from the insurance agents. Our aggressive lawyers have years of experience with such claims and know the most effective ways to secure you the maximum restitution available under the law. If we feel that the insurance agency is being too difficult and resistant, we will take your case to court and present your lawsuit before a judge and jury.
If you need a lawyer for foreign object in your food who speaks Spanish, we can accommodate you as well. Speaking another language is no reason to not pursue legal action against the responsible party. We made it a point to hire a Spanish speaking attorney for foreign object in your food so that our clients will have the fairest representation. We will provide you with translations and explain the legal process to you as it unfolds.
Call us today to schedule a free consultation with an expert lawyer. If you have questions about your case, we will give you the answers and will tell you what we feel we can earn for you. If you select us to represent you, we will also grant you our zero fee guarantee, which promises that you will not pay any out of pocket expenses throughout the case. We will only have our fees covered if we win, and the money will come from the settlement we win from the insurance agency, so the market or restaurant is responsible for your legal fees. In the event that we lose, you won’t owe us a penny, and you can walk off scot free. Your financial standing is important to us.
To speak with a foreign object in food attorney in San Diego, contact Kenmore Law Group today.