Families of victims and sufferers can sue

Consumer act provides grounds

Families of people who died from listeriosis or those who suffered from it can sue for compensation.

This is according to a lawyer who said consumers were protected by the Consumer Protection Act.

Kirstie Haslam, partner at DSC Attorneys which specialises in personal injury claims, said the Consumer Protection Act clearly imposes strict liability on manufacturers of goods for harm caused by their products to the consumer.

This means that a victim does not need establish fault on the part of the manufacturer or other involved parties for consumers who suffer harm as a result of defective products, in this case the food products, to claim, she said.

Haslam said victims who contracted listeriosis as a result of eating infected food may be able to recover damages either by the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, or alternatively by way of a potential delictual claim as the result of negligence.

“Suing in delict refers to a situation where one suffers reasonably foreseeable and avoidable harm as a result of another’s negligent act or omission.”

Haslam said should the claim be pursued, the victim would have to establish that the manufacturer failed in its duty of care to take the reasonably necessary steps required to prevent the food being infected with the bacteria. –