Can You Sue a Restaurant for Food Poisoning?

Legal Support in Food Poisoning Claims

Imagine you're enjoying a meal at a restaurant, or maybe just grabbing lunch on the go, and suddenly your stomach feels off. What seemed like a simple, satisfying meal turns into a nightmare of nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain.

While most cases of food poisoning are uncomfortable but short-lived, some can cause serious health issues.

Contact The Smith Law Center if you're seeking damages with an experienced personal injury attorney. Our team will answer your questions about premises liability claims and potential compensation. We offer nationwide advocacy in food poisoning cases. 

Let us help you secure evidence by filling out our online contact form or calling (757) 244-7000 for a free consultation. 

What Causes Food Poisoning? 

You may be able to take legal action for food poisoning if the costs associated are significant. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that nearly 48 million foodborne illnesses occur every year. This impacts one in six Americans while resulting in estimates of 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths.

The term food poisoning is often a catch-all phrase. The following organisms are most likely to cause foodborne illnesses, including:

• B. cereus, perfringens, and staphylococcal.
• Botulism.
• Campylobacteriosis.
• Intestinal cryptosporidiosis.
• Cyclosporiasis.
• E. Coli.
• Hepatitis.
• Salmonellosis.

Anyone can experience food poisoning. However, young children and the elderly are most susceptible to severe food poisoning. More extreme cases may benefit from suing for food poisoning. 

Risk Factors Increasing Your Chances of Food Poisoning

Many cases of food poisoning are preventable. A restaurant may fail to provide adequate training to staff, increasing your chances of becoming ill. Risk factors increasing the likelihood of contracting food poisoning include:

• Cooking foods at the wrong temperature.
• Failing to cool or heat perishable foods correctly.
• Poor health or hygiene practices. 
• Unsafe food sources.
• Contaminated or dirty equipment and utensils.

When a restaurant fails to provide training, background checks, or competent staff, then they may be held liable for damages done.

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Who Can You Sue for Food Poisoning?

Any place with on-site food service owes a duty of care to its guests and patrons to provide a safe environment to eat and stay. 

So, not only can you sue a restaurant for food poisoning, but any business that is involved in food commerce, such as: 

• Hotels.
• Food suppliers.
• Manufacturers.
• Retailers.
• Wholesalers. 

These establishments have a duty to maintain a sanitary environment for food preparation or distribution. Working with a skilled premises liability lawyer helps prove unsanitary conditions. This shows the establishment caused your food poisoning and other damages. 

Important Elements in a Food Poisoning Lawsuit 

Our team works efficiently to prove these elements of negligence necessary in a premises liability claim for your injury. Without enough evidence of a restaurant's negligence, your claim won't be as strong. The elements include:

• The restaurant, hotel, or establishment owes you a duty of care to provide food safe for consumption in a reasonably safe condition.
• The restaurant breached that duty by serving you contaminated food or food that was cross-contaminated.
• Consuming food from the restaurant made you sick.
• The sickness resulted in the pain and suffering experienced.

Proving these elements through sound evidence and documentation allows us to show the other party caused your food poisoning. 

You may be able to secure financial support for the suffering you’ve experienced. Our team will focus our time and energy on seeking compensation for you in a food poisoning case. 

Why Experience Matters in a Food Poisoning Case

Proving food poisoning can be challenging because: 

• The food that caused your illness is likely gone or thrown out.
• You may have eaten throughout the day, so singling out the party responsible for contaminating your food is difficult. 
• It may take days or even weeks for symptoms of food poisoning to surface.
• You must show that the food poisoning caused you to suffer damages, such as medical expenses.

A lawyer with experience in food poisoning claims can help you identify key evidence, like reviewing restaurant health inspection reports or tracking down any contaminated food products through records. 

Also, they can help pinpoint the source of contamination, and if multiple people were affected, they can also work to gather testimony from others to strengthen your case.

The Smith Law Center takes pride in its successful results in recovering over $1 billion for clients. Our dedication to each client is reflected in our team's results. 

Learn more about what our clients say concerning our dedication to their recovery. We can help you determine if you have a significant food poisoning case and develop a strategy for your unique claim. Then, we will work relentlessly to seek the damages you deserve. 

If you’ve recently experienced illness or injury due to improper food preparation by a restaurant, hotel, or other outside establishment, contact us online or by phone at (757) 244-7000 for a free consultation.

How to Prove Food Poisoning From a Restaurant

Immediate action is necessary when documenting a food poisoning claim. After becoming ill, you can serve as a primary investigator. Taking these steps may support a food poisoning case or lawsuit.

Track Your Symptoms and Illness

Food poisoning symptoms typically appear within 24 hours of eating. However, food poisoning symptoms can appear within a few hours, and some illnesses may take up to three weeks. It’s helpful to document the following: 

• When your symptoms begin.
• How you feel.
• When your last meal was consumed.
• What you consumed within the previous 48 hours.
• Any strange tastes or smells.
• The names of places you dined.

Contact Dining Partners

Discovering that your friend or a co-worker who ate the same dish as you is also suffering from symptoms of food poisoning may narrow the search quickly. Call after the fact if you spot a friend at a restaurant to learn about their experience. Food poisoning often impacts others dining at the same place as well.

Check With Authorities

Local health departments may have information on a food poisoning outbreak in your community or the area you are visiting. Also, reviewing the FDA's recalls, market withdrawals, and safety alerts list can be helpful to keep important information under the radar.

Test Leftovers

Contact the local health department or hospital to test for pathogens before disposing of leftovers. You may also get similar results by ordering the same dish from a restaurant and getting it tested.

Keep Receipts and Medical Documentation

While many cases of food poisoning are very uncomfortable, they pass with time. However, more severe cases may lead to hospitalization due to unmanageable symptoms, such as: 

• Repeated vomiting.
• Inability to retain fluids.
• Dehydration.
• Blurred vision.
• Muscle weakness.
• Intense pain or severe abdominal cramps.
• Diarrhea lasting longer than 3 days.
• Bloody vomit or stool.

Retain all medical invoices and documentation from your hospital stay, ER visit, or doctor's care.

Inform them about your suspicions and symptoms and ask if they can test for contaminants. Also, retain receipts from your meal, hotel stay, or rental service if you are away from home when experiencing food poisoning. 

Damages Available When Suing for Food Poisoning 

The compensation in a food poisoning lawsuit against a restaurant will depend on the losses and costs you experience. 

Individuals often settle with an insurance company, never receiving the compensation they deserve. Our team aims to get the most beneficial settlement outcome or litigate in court. Contact The Smith Law Center to determine which damages apply to your case. 

Economic Damages

These costs to you have a monetary value with a price. The economic damages you experience can be costly, leaving a wake of medical debt behind. Economic damages may include:

• Medical costs to cover your hospital stay or other medical expenses.
• Lost wages if you had to miss work.

Other damages may apply to your case. We strive to account for all of your economic damages through a comprehensive evaluation of your claim.

Non-economic Damages

While these damages are more complex to measure in monetary terms, they are equally impactful.

Non-economic damages may include: 

• Pain and suffering.
• Loss of quality of life.
• Emotional trauma. 

The Smith Law Center has provided quality service and care to clients nationwide since 1949. We witness the impact of these often-overlooked damages on our clients' lives and how compensation can open the door to recovery.

Punitive Damages

In cases of serious negligence, you may be able to receive extra compensation called "punitive damages." Sadly, food poisoning at a restaurant can sometimes lead to death. If that happens, a wrongful death lawyer can guide you, the estate executor, or a family member through the process of filing a claim.

How Long Do I Have to Sue for Food Poisoning?

Getting all the facts in a claim can take time. We'll need to examine all parties in a claim and uncover their role in your illness. But failing to file a claim within the statute of limitations can cost you your compensation.

In most instances, the law allows you to seek damages two years from the date of injury. 

That’s why speaking to a lawyer early on can impact your ability to file a claim. Getting your claim started sooner rather than later can help your legal team collect the documentation needed to prove your food poisoning claim and ensure you don’t miss important filing deadlines.

The Smith Law Center Can Help You 

Whether dining near or far, food poisoning can bring your activities to a halt. With over tens of thousands of people hospitalized from foodborne illnesses each year, foodborne pathogens are not to be taken lightly.

For those wondering, can you sue for food poisoning? The answer is yes, but not just anyone can. You must have a strong claim with plenty of evidence to connect the restaurant or other establishment to your illness and show that your food poisoning caused you monetary loss or other suffering. 

Experience is on your side when you contact The Smith Law Center team. Schedule a free case evaluation to determine if you have a premises liability case. 

We’re available online or by phone at (757) 244-7000 for a free consultation. Our team of personal injury attorneys has delivered the results clients deserve since 1949, and we are ready to work just as hard for you.