Imagine glancing at the news only to see a headline about a food recall for a product you regularly use in your household. Few things can be more unsettling than discovering that you’ve unknowingly exposed your loved ones to a product that is now being pulled from shelves. What steps can you take in such a predicament?
Food recalls are a crucial element of food safety. They are designed to safeguard unsuspecting consumers against potential health risks that can arise from contaminated or unsafe products. Recently, a notable recall involved baby formula. This highlights the essence of understanding the recall process and the steps to take if you or a loved one has consumed a recalled product and been poisoned as a result.
What is a food recall?
A food recall is initiated by a company or by pertinent regulatory bodies to remove an unsafe food product from the market. Health concerns can arise when researchers find various contaminants in the product. A food product can be termed as contaminated if:
- It contains bacteria or foreign objects
- The packaging has undeclared allergens
- its production wasn’t hygienic
Food recalls are necessary to help prevent further consumer harm and mitigate the risk of illness or injury. The recent recall of baby formula followed the discovery of Cronobacter sakazakii in the products. This is a bacteria that can cause severe infections in infants.
Steps to take if you’ve consumed a recalled product
When you discover that you have a recalled food product in your household, the initial alarm can throw you into an anxiety frenzy. But before you panic, countercheck the recall notice to ascertain that your family has been, in fact, consuming the contaminated product.
If you have the recalled product, you should stop using it immediately. Consider calling extended family members and friends who you might think were using the product to confirm that they know about the recall. You should then follow the disposal procedures outlined with the recall to safely discard the product from your home.
If you’ve been harmed so significantly that you’ve incurred medical bills, you may be eligible for compensation. And suppose your family, unfortunately, has lost a loved one because of a recalled product; you may be eligible to pursue a wrongful death claim. With the help of a reliable legal team, you can hold the negligent company accountable for exposing you to a contaminated food product.