Food producers have a duty to ensure that the food products they provide to the public are free of contamination and safe for human consumption. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has adopted a new set of rules and regulations designed to improve safety controls and prevent harmful and even deadly foodborne illness outbreaks from making people sick.<\/p>\n
When a producer or company fails to safely prepare or process food products, and a consumer becomes sick as a result, the producer may be\u00a0strictly liable for the consumer’s damages. The most difficult aspect of a food contamination case is proving causation. Most of us eat a wide variety of foods and products throughout the day, or even week, and many people fail to remember exactly what they consumed, or where and when they consumed it.<\/p>\n
When an outbreak occurs, state public health officials and the national Centers for Disease Control (CDC) typically get involved to help trace the particular strain that\u00a0caused the illness back to a specific source, like a restaurant, factory, or farm.\u00a0In many cases, the reports and evidence created during these investigations can be used to show causation in a lawsuit.<\/p>\n