Contaminated Food Injuries in Georgia: E. Coli, Salmonella, and Product Liability Claims

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Food that makes a person sick in Georgia can support more than one claim at once: strict product liability against a manufacturer, negligence against a careless handler, and breach of the implied warranty of merchantability against a merchant seller, which under the Georgia Commercial Code includes a restaurant, because serving food for value is a sale. Each theory has its own defendant, its own proof, and its own clock, and the warranty route carries a statutory notice requirement.

The Illnesses Behind the Claims

Salmonella enterocolitis is a bacterial infection of the lining of the small intestine caused by Salmonella bacteria, which a person can get by eating food or drinking water that contains them, including poultry or eggs that were not cooked well or stored properly (MedlinePlus, Salmonella enterocolitis). Hemolytic-uremic syndrome can follow a gastrointestinal infection with E. coli O157:H7, has been linked in outbreaks to undercooked hamburger meat contaminated with E. coli, and can cause kidney failure (MedlinePlus, Hemolytic-uremic syndrome). The pathogen matters to the legal claim because it is the link between a particular food, a particular defendant, and the illness.

Three Routes to Liability

Theory Who it reaches What Georgia's text says
Strict product liability, OCGA 51-1-11(b)(1) The manufacturer of personal property sold as new Liable in tort, without regard to privity, to a person injured because the product, when the manufacturer sold it, was not merchantable and reasonably suited to its intended use
Negligence, OCGA 51-1-2 Any handler whose conduct fell short Ordinary diligence, the care ordinarily prudent persons use in the same or similar circumstances
Implied warranty of merchantability, OCGA 11-2-314 A seller who is a merchant with respect to goods of that kind "[T]he serving for value of food or drink to be consumed either on the premises or elsewhere is a sale"

The Warranty Route: Restaurants, Notice, and Who May Sue

Under OCGA 11-2-314(1), a warranty of merchantability is implied in a contract for sale “if the seller is a merchant with respect to goods of that kind,” and “the serving for value of food or drink to be consumed either on the premises or elsewhere is a sale.” Goods must be at least “fit for the ordinary purposes for which such goods are used” (OCGA 11-2-314(2)(c)).

Two further provisions shape a claim. The buyer “must within a reasonable time after he discovers or should have discovered any breach notify the seller of breach or be barred from any remedy” (OCGA 11-2-607(3)(a)). And damages for breach of warranty include consequential damages, among them “[i]njury to person or property proximately resulting from any breach of warranty” (OCGA 11-2-715(2)(b)).

Strict Liability and the Distribution Chain

OCGA 51-1-11(b)(1) reaches the manufacturer of personal property sold as new, whether sold directly or through a dealer or another person. A seller in the chain is treated differently. A “product seller” includes a person who “leases or sells and distributes; installs; prepares; blends; packages; labels; markets; or assembles pursuant to a manufacturer’s plan,” and in a strict-liability action a product seller is outside the manufacturer liability of OCGA 51-1-11 (OCGA 51-1-11.1(a), (b)). The statute preserves any right “to seek and obtain indemnity or contribution” (OCGA 51-1-11.1(c)).

A negligence claim does not depend on those definitions. A restaurant or grocer answers for its own handling under OCGA 51-1-2, and the claimant must prove breach and causation as with any negligence defendant.

Proving Which Meal Made the Claimant Ill

Causation is the central problem, because a claimant must connect an illness to a particular food and a particular defendant. The Supreme Court of Georgia has held that expert evidence is not required to prove causation in a simple negligence case, but is required where the link turns on medical questions that only a witness with specialized knowledge can answer reliably (Cowart v. Widener, 287 Ga. 622 (2010)). Whether an infection came from one meal rather than another may be such a question.

Where expert testimony on causation is offered, it has to rest on sufficient facts or data and reliable principles and methods, reliably applied to the case (OCGA 24-7-702(b)).

Time Limits

The period for an action for injuries to the person is two years after the right of action accrues (OCGA 9-3-33). A separate period applies to a claim for breach of a contract for sale, including a warranty: “An action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within four years after the cause of action has accrued,” and “[a] breach of warranty occurs when tender of delivery is made,” except where a warranty explicitly extends to future performance, so the claim accrues then, “regardless of the aggrieved party’s lack of knowledge of the breach” (OCGA 11-2-725(1), (2)).

For example, imagine a meal served on June 1, 2028, with symptoms beginning on June 4, 2028. The four-year period under OCGA 11-2-725 would run from tender of delivery, June 1, 2032. If accrual under OCGA 9-3-33 were measured from the onset of symptoms, the two-year period would end June 4, 2030. The two statutes can place a deadline years apart.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a family member or guest who did not buy the food bring a warranty claim?
A seller’s warranty extends to “any natural person who is in the family or household of his buyer or who is a guest in his home if it is reasonable to expect that such person may use, consume, or be affected by the goods and who is injured in person by breach of the warranty,” and a seller “may not exclude or limit the operation of this Code section” (OCGA 11-2-318).

Can a restaurant’s or supplier’s records help show where the food came from?
Records kept in the regular course of a business, such as purchase and receipt records, can come into evidence under the business records exception if they meet its requirements (OCGA 24-8-803(6)).

Do statements to a doctor about when symptoms started count as evidence?
Statements made for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment that describe symptoms, when they began, or the general character of their cause or external source can be admissible insofar as they are reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment (OCGA 24-8-803(4)).

Can the four-year warranty period be shortened?
Yes, by the original agreement, to not less than one year, but it may not be extended (OCGA 11-2-725(1)).

  • OCGA 51-1-11(b); OCGA 51-1-11.1(a), (b), (c); OCGA 51-1-2
  • OCGA 11-2-314; OCGA 11-2-318; OCGA 11-2-607(3); OCGA 11-2-715(2); OCGA 11-2-725
  • Cowart v. Widener, 287 Ga. 622, 697 S.E.2d 779 (2010)
  • OCGA 24-7-702(b); OCGA 24-8-803(4), (6)
  • OCGA 9-3-33
  • MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, “Salmonella enterocolitis” and “Hemolytic-uremic syndrome”

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about foodborne-illness claims under Georgia law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Which theory applies, who may be liable, and which deadline governs depend on the specific facts. A person made ill by contaminated food should consult a licensed Georgia attorney about the particular situation.

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