Miami Injury Lawyer Blog
One Monday morning in early February, Janet Yarbrough-Moody, a North Miami Beach resident and therapist stopped with her boyfriend, Gene at the Burger King located on West Dixie Highway in North Miami. She order an ice-cream cone and he order a vanilla ice cream sundae with chocolate syrup. Little did he know that it was no ordinary ice-cream sundae.
As they were driving home and eating their ice-creams, Gene felt something cold and hard in his mouth. At first he thought it was a nut that made it to the cup by mistake. He was in shock when he saw what it really was: a quarter inch screw! Yarbrough-Moody has tried to contact and inform Burger King’s customer service department of this hazardous incident and she has had no luck. However, a Burger King official made a statement to the Miami New Times promising that “food safety is a top priority” and that the company is investigating the incidents. You can read more regarding this incident here.
Screws are a serious choking hazard and food businesses should not take these findings in their restaurant chains lightly.
The United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has concluded in its Compliance Policy Guide Section 555.425 that hard or sharp foreign objects in food may cause traumatic injury including laceration and perforation of tissues of the mouth, tongue, throat, stomach and intestine as well as damage to the teeth and gums.[1] From 1972 through 1997, the FDA Health Hazard Evaluation Board evaluated approximately 190 cases of hard or sharp foreign objects in food. These include cases of both injury and non-injury reported to FDA.[2] The Board found that foreign objects that are less than 7 mm, maximum dimension, rarely cause trauma or serious injury except in special risk groups such as infants, surgery patients, and the elderly.[3] The scientific and clinical literature supports this conclusion.[4]Similarly, Section 402(a)(3) of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act prohibits the distribution of foods that may contain repulsive matter, considered as filth, such as insects. Most consumers find the presence of any visible filth contaminant, such as hair in a food product, nauseating.[5]
If you or any person you know has lived through a horrible, uncomfortable and hazardous experience such as the one described above, do not hesitate to call the attorneys at Friedland | Carmona. Attorney Jonathan Friedland and his team handle all types of negligence, product liability, personal injury, negligent security, slip/trip and fall, and car accident cases throughout the state of Florida, including Boca Raton, Homestead, North Miami, South Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Pembroke Pines, Hialeah, Kendall, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach. Call the Miami personal injury attorneys today and let our family take care of your family.
References:
[1] http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/ComplianceManuals/CompliancePolicyGuidanceManual/ucm074554.htm
[2]Id.
[3]Id.
[4]Id.
[5] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11029271: