Food-Related Injuries: What Options Do You Have in Hollywood?

Noone goes to a grocery store or restaurant expecting a life-changing illness, but each year 128,000 Americans need hospital care and another 3,000 die from a foodborne illness.

In too many cases, people who have been injured by unsafe food in Hollywood and across Florida don’t even know they may have a right to seek compensation. They often mistakenly believe that they need to pay for the many costs of their illness—including time lost at work and high medical bills—themselves.

This isn’t always the case.

If you’ve been harmed because you ate food in a restaurant, from a grocery store, or from another source, contact the family-based legal team at Flaxman Law Group. Our father-son attorney team work closely with those who have been injured and have helped injured people win large settlements and court wins, including multi-million-dollar verdicts. If you’ve been injured or harmed, let’s meet in a free accident consultation to find out whether you have a claim and to discuss how Flaxman Law Group may be able to help you.

What Are Food-Related Legal Claims in Hollywood?

There are different ways that food can cause harm and even fatalities, and in cases where a food manufacturer or other liable party was negligent in the way they stored, sold, or manufactured food, the injured party can be held liable. Let’s look at some possible examples:

• Food contamination. Food contamination can happen when an unsafe substance is introduced into the food. For example, a few years ago spinach had to be recalled because it was contaminated with waste from animal farms. Food contamination can cause serious food-borne illness, which can lead to nausea, vomiting, flu-like symptoms, and even death.
• Food spoilage. Incorrect food storage or preparation can cause food to become dangerous, causing food-borne illness. If a restaurant doesn’t store meat at the correct temperatures, for example, diners who get ill as a result may have a claim against the restaurant.
• Food design. Some food products may be designed in ways that put consumers at risk. For example, small candies can pose a choking hazard for small children and manufacturers can be held liable if they promote these candies for young kids. In a recent case, two lawsuits have been filed against Panera Bread, alleging that one of their drinks contained unsafe levels of caffeine and wasn’t correctly labelled.
• Improper labeling. Food manufacturers can be held liable if they label food incorrectly. For example, if a food is labelled “peanut-free” when it contains peanuts and a consumer suffers a serious allergic reaction, that customer can sue the food manufacturing company.

Do I Have a Claim?

If you’ve been injured by unsafe food, you may have a claim and may be able to seek damages for lost income while you were recovering, your current and future medical bills, and other losses. However, it’s not easy to file this kind of claim for a few reasons:

• There may be multiple liable parties. If you get sick from eating at a restaurant, for example, the restaurant staff may have prepared food incorrectly and a supplier may have sold them contaminated food. It can take a thorough investigation to get answers and to find all liable parties.
• Some liable parties in this sector are powerful. Today, much of the food we eat is produced by a few, multinational companies with very powerful legal teams. You’ll want to work with an experienced Hollywood personal injury attorney who’s not afraid to face large corporations.
• Evidence goes missing fast. You might throw out the receipt from a restaurant or the packaging of food. It may not even be immediately clear which food has made you sick. After all, most of us eat three meals a day and symptoms of food-borne illness may not show up until hours or days after your meal. Again, an experienced Hollywood personal injury lawyer is important to establish your claim.
• Some liable parties may be small. Small restaurants or food trucks may not have the assets or insurance needed to cover your losses.

To find out whether you have a claim, we invite you to contact our team at Flaxman Law Group. We can meet in our offices in Miami, Homestead, or Hollywood, or we can even travel to you if you’re too injured to meet in our offices. With more than 60 years of combined experience, our team has the experience and resources to tackle even challenging cases. Contact us today for your consultation.