Salmonella is bacteria, a one-celled organism about 0.5 microns wide and 2 microns long. A micron is one one-thousandth of a millimeter, and there are about 25.4 millimeters in an inch. So one Salmonella cell is extremely small, far too small to see without a microscope.
It takes only a few cells of Salmonella to make someone sick, in some cases fatally ill. Salmonella can contaminate food, water, a countertop, the floor, a hand, a hand towel, pet food, a pet that eats the pet food, basically anything.
Companies that process food and pet food know that Salmonella contamination can occur and know how to prevent it. When contaminated food or pet food makes a consumer sick, the law says that the processor of that product is liable (legally responsible) for all of the harm caused by the contaminated product. This is important because the law does act as a deterrent to bad behavior, at least most of the time.
We have handled cases where an executive at a company knew a product was contaminated with Salmonella and still sold the product to consumers. He thought he could get away with it. We have also handled cases where companies allowed so many safety violations that they had to have known that their product would become contaminated. Again, they thought they would get away with it.
When there is this kind of bad behavior it is particularly important for the people sickened by the contaminated product to sue the company. Companies that get away with bad behavior continue to behave badly, and other companies may follow the lead.
If you are one of the approximate 1.4 million people in the U.S. who got Salmonella this year, contact our lawyers for a free consultation regarding a Salmonella lawsuit.