Eating a meal out at your favourite restaurant should be delicious, enjoyable and most all safe. The possibility of ending up in hospital sick from the experience probably doesn’t even cross your mind, nor should it.

Unfortunately, food poisoning can and does happen all too often, causing symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever, headaches and in the worst cases miscarriage, septic shock, brain damage and paraplegia (to name just a few!).

The fact is, a restaurant owes a duty of care to its customers to ensure that its food is safe for consumption. This means having strict systems and quality control measures in place to ensure you do not suffer harm, whether that harm be directly caused by contaminated food, or as a result of poor handling or poor manufacturing processes.

We’ve seen the Court hand down decisions in these type in cases such as in Samaan bht Samaan v Kentucky Fried Chicken Pty Ltd [2012] NSWSC. In this case a seven year old girl suffered severe brain damage and spastic quadriplegia as a result of salmonella poisoning caused by eating a KFC Twister. The Court awarded $8m in damages plus costs after finding that the chicken was contaminated.

We know that the first phone call you will probably be making is to the doctor. But once you’re back on your feet, the next call on your agenda should be to a lawyer. Claims of this nature can be complex and it’s important you seek expert legal advice early.

If you need advice for a food poisoning claim contact our experienced team for an obligation-free appointment. We act on a no-win no-fee basis, we cover your legal disbursements along the way and we guarantee to actually care about your claim.