Is Food Poisoning Attempted Manslaughter?

Similar to the way one remembers their first kiss or, more aptly, their first automobile accident, one distinctly remembers their first case of food poisoning as if it were imprinted on their gut (and it kind of is). For me, it was The Red Onion in Beverly Hills (a long defunct restaurant) where my entire family (myself included) was laid out for days because of some bad beans, bad tacos, or bad salsa (we never did pinpoint the culprit). I was probably ten years old and had never had the sort of experience that would make you think twice about food. Food was nourishing, appetizing, pleasing, and decidedly my friend, not something that moves me to throw up the contents of my stomach time and time again. As unlucky as I felt at the time, I was considerably luckier than many people who fall victim to food poisoning. According to the Center For Disease Control (CDC) an estimated 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths occur in the United States each year related to food-borne diseases and pathogens. All in all, far more people suffer from food poisoning than actually die from it. However, as the stats above reveal, people do die from food poisoning and, other than a few class action lawsuits and a few recalls instituted, there is really little that is done to seek justice.

Most recently, a French teenager, Benjamin Orset, died after eating two hamburgers from a Quick restaurant (a European burger chain) in Avignon, France. Staphylococcus bacteria was found in the teenager’s gastric juices and on five of the eight employees present on the day the unfortunate Orset decided to eat at the Quick chain (I will not comment on the sad irony that French people have fallen victim to the perils of tainted burgers – it just would be in bad taste). As we know from the prevalence of food poisoning that this instance, while shocking and unfortunate, is not all that uncommon. If the United States has over 5000 deaths a year from food poisoning, take a guess how much the rest of the world has (sorry, I don’t have a reliable number for this stat). The exceptional thing about this case is that the manager of the Quick chain, besides being fired, is now being charged with involuntary homicide in his connection to the food poisoning death of 14-year-old Orset.

We all know that food poisoning is fairly common, but is it a crime? There have been several attempts to criminally prosecute individuals with negligence in relation to food poisoning outbreaks (some with more success than others), but these were all stemming from multiple outbreaks. By allowing individuals to press criminal charges against others for their involvement, or negligence, in instances of food poisoning, are we inviting a whole new realm of litigation into our world, or are we exacting justice? With the multitude of food poisoning cases reported worldwide, can we afford to freely, or even selectively, prosecute various instances of food poisoning, or is this something we just cannot afford to ignore. Will criminal prosecution lead to reform, or just more litigation headaches?

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Cody L.

4:28PM PST on Jan 6, 2012

More inspections are needed.

send a green star

New G.

4:21PM PST on Jan 6, 2012

Thanks for the information.

Kiana S.

4:16AM PST on Jan 6, 2012

Interesting question!

Loretta K.

8:47PM PST on Jan 5, 2012

Thanks

Dee D.

4:46PM PST on Jan 5, 2012

That's pretty severe to die from something that was eaten in a country such as France. 5,000 deaths a year from in the US from food poisoning is way too many. More restaurant inspections are needed, and health laws need to be more thoroughly enforced. Since 5 employees at this particular restaurant had the particular bacteria that killed young Benjamin, this dosen't sound like an accident, it sounds more like ignorance (or laziness). But I don't know about being charged with attempted manslaughter.

Gary A L.

8:56AM PST on Jan 5, 2012

thank your repulicans for slashing oversite on their corporate buddies so they can can divide the profits

Drharlan S.

5:48PM PST on Jan 4, 2012

It is tragic that so many are sickened or die from food poisoning. In my practice of emergency medicine, I saw too many patients suffer. The public health food inspectors are overwhelmed. Public funding is dwindling. Many municipalities inspect a restaurant only a few times per year. As consumers, we can't rely on this oversight. Consumers need to demand a higher level of hygiene and rate restaurants on cleanliness.

State laws vary but often only one person is formally trained in food handling in a restaurant at any one time. Others get training at home or on the job. That training is inadequate. Well meaning restaurant owners are overwhelmed. They need help with training.

There are federal regulations on food handling that are ignored and not universally followed.

While I believe that more effort should be placed on education and there should be more monies spent on inspection, what will really drive change is landmark legal action that compensates those who suffer needlessly.

DrStueven@DiningGrades.com

Chad A.

2:18AM PST on Jan 4, 2012

Why don't we stop with these legalistic solutions and just return to education about public health with financing health inspections at a proper level? The free market may deliver healthy food, but it has to deal out some food poisoning first. I would rather skip that step and enjoy safe food prepared according to standards that have been inspected.

Arkana I.

12:59AM PST on Jan 4, 2012

Whereas it would be difficult in ANY of those case to prove any intention - bud it should be dealt with like a traffic accident and the connected NEGLIGENCE. If you are causing harm to someone through negligence, you are RESPONSIBLE. And yes, there should be proper legislation to sue those people!

Parvez Z.

9:56PM PST on Jan 3, 2012

Their should be regular inspections by health authorities concerned to check the food and hygienic condition of the restaurants I can never forget the food poisoning had after eating in one of the out let