A couple with two children is suing McDonald’s and two Missouri operators for personal injury. They say that they were mislead about the ingredients used to make hash browns and French fries, which resulted in their two children—who have food allergies—from becoming injured.
Mekenzie Miller, 7, and Macauley Miller, 4, experienced stomach problems and other emotional and physical illnesses because they ate McDonald’s French fries, which contains casein and wheat.
Their parents, Frank and Beth Miller, say that they checked the list of ingredients that McDonald’s uses to make French fries prior to letting their children eat them. Neither casein or wheat were on the list. Mekenzie has celiac disease, which is an allergy to wheat and gluten products. Macauley is autistic. Milk, gluten, and wheat can exacerbate his behavioral issues. His parents say that eating the fries set back Macauley’s behavioral therapy.
The lawsuits are being filed against McDonald’s along with 16 other injury cases in Florida. Another federal class action suit has also been filed.
Restaurants, food manufacturers, and food retailers have a responsibility to ensure that the food that they offer consumers will not cause them to become ill or die. A food provider also must ensure that consumers are warned of any potential causes of injury or illness. Failure to do so can be grounds for a products liability claim or lawsuit against any negligent parties.
The FDA mandates that all food producers have to make sure that the food they produce and/or sell is correctly labeled and includes a proper list of nutritional content and ingredients. Any expiration date must be properly listed. All food must not contain any harmful bacteria, toxic substances, or foreign objects inside them.
If you or someone you love has become ill or sustained injuries because of a harmful ingredient in a food item or because the food item was improperly processed, improperly prepared, incorrectly labeled, or contained a harmful substance in it, you should speak with a personal injury lawyer who is experienced in handling products liability cases.
O’Fallon, Mo., couple sue McDonald’s over ingredients in fries, STltoday.com, September 25, 2007
Related Web Resources:
McDonald’s Lawsuit Timeline, Compassionate Spirit
In Maryland and Washington D.C., the personal injury law firm of Lebowitz and Mzhen has handled many kinds of products liability cases, including injury cases involving defective food, defective machinery, defective motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts, defective pharmaceutical drugs, and other kinds of defective consumer products.
Contact Lebowitz and Mzhen for your free consultation with an experienced Maryland products liability attorney.