No Compensation for Dental Injury - In BAV Newsletter 01/2012

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Jun 14, 2017 - Foods

No Compensation for Dental Injury - In BAV Newsletter 01/2012

The Kleve Regional Court dismissed a lawsuit seeking damages for a dental injury caused by a bone fragment approximately 2 mm in size in Cevapcici.

According to the court, the Cevapcici were not defective within the meaning of Section 3 (1) of the Product Liability Act, as from the consumer's perspective, it cannot be completely ruled out in minced meat that it may occasionally contain a small bone or cartilage fragment. Just like a bone in a fish fillet, a bone or cartilage fragment in minced meat is considered a natural component of the raw product, which ideally should not be present in the processed product, but can be present. In the court's opinion, the consumer who bites on a tiny bone fragment does not face a serious health risk that must be avoided or eliminated at all costs and by any conceivable effort. Complete product safety could only be achieved through unreasonable efforts on the part of the manufacturer. Similar decisions in which claims for damages were rejected have already been made for a hard roasted peanut in a chocolate coating and for the consequences of biting into a cherry stone contained in a cherry pastry.