According to Florida law, product liability principles do apply to food products (in a package or a can), and both manufacturers and retail sellers may be held responsible on theory of implied warranty when food is defective, unwholesome, or unfit for consumption.
The imposition of absolute liability upon a dealer who sells canned goods of reputable manufacture has been denied in a few decisions on the ground that the seller cannot possibly discover that a particular can is defective, and that it is, therefore, unjust to subject him to liability. The same argument, however, may be made in regard to any implied warranty, not only of food or other articles, where the buyer must have been aware that the seller could not discover a defect if it existed. Accordingly, if canned goods are to be made an exception to the general rule governing sales of food, the whole law of implied warranty should be revised and placed on another basis.
But the general principle of the common law is opposed to this, and certainly if a dealer is ever to be made liable for injuries caused by defective goods where he has been guilty of no fault, the reasons are stronger for holding him liable for selling defective food than in any other kind of sale. And by the weight of authority, presumably for these reasons, a dealer is liable for selling such food even though in sealed containers of a reputable brand.
See: Sencer v. Carl’s Markets, 45 So.2d 671.
Related:
- Product Liability Attorney
- Can Retailers Be Held Liable For Defective Products?
- What Happens If I Find A Foreign Object In My Food?
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