Legal Question in Product Liability in New York

Tainted chicken at major fast foodrestaurant

I purchased a 12 piece bucket of chicken and a few other items.When I returned home, myself and my daughter began eating.I detected a chlorine type of taste but thought that it could possibly be their new recipe flavor and my taste buds weren't accustomed to it.The more I ate,the stronger the taste of ''chlorine'' or some other chemical.Since it was the evening that I purchased the chicken,I proceeded to email the franchise and then called to file a formal complaint.I was told that it would take 24-48 hours for them to respond.My daughter had diarrea that very next morning.

A representative from the franchise called and stated that they purchase chicken from a wholesaler,blah,blah,blah.They want me to give them the remaining pieces and I suppose all they want to give me is a food certificate.

What if there were chemicals in the chicken that have been known to cause cancer, for example.What if there are lasting effects from these chemicals?

I called them back and told them that I was advised to give a few pieces for their testing purposes.

What are my options at this point?


Asked on 1/05/07, 5:34 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Mark S. Moroknek Kelly & Curtis, PLLC.

Re: Tainted chicken at major fast foodrestaurant

Your actions have been reasonable so far, and giving them a sample while storing the remainder in case of either illness or litigation is a good idea. If you were to have a laboratory perform an analysis you could conceivably find anything from soap to unprocessed ingredients, and unless you obtain the report from the company you won't know what actually belongs in the formula and doesn't.

When a verifiable illness (botulism for instance) results from tainted food if one can prove the causation it is still not always easy to rule out other sources of contamination in diet.

However, a carcinogen is generally the most speculative, because the "proof" in those situations is generally statistical. You should not have to worry that your daughter would actually get cancer. If you want to know what was in it, see what they say after testing; if you don't believe them,

take it one step at a time.

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Answered on 1/05/07, 7:34 pm


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