If you think you or a member of your family is suffering from food poisoning or any other side effects after a food intake, you could file a food safety litigation lawsuit. If you suspect that the food you bought at a store or restaurant was contaminated, you could be entitled to compensation for the losses and illness you have suffered after eating that food.
Call your doctor immediately if you think you have food poisoning or an allergic reaction to food. If it is an emergency, call 911 right away.
In addition, you should contact your county or city health department if you think that you or someone you know became ill from eating a certain food. Reporting the illnesses from food safety litigations to your local health department will help them identify all the potential outbreaks of foodborne disease. They will investigate and control the outbreak to prevent more people from getting sick. They will also take further measures to prevent similar outbreaks from happening in the future.
You are allowed to file a food safety lawsuit if you are suffering from a serious illness, such as:
According to the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services, food safety has six main objectives. They are:
The law allows victims of food poisoning and more to file a food safety litigation lawsuit against the restaurants, grocery stores, or foodservice companies responsible for the illness. Potential damages include compensation for:
When a food service company offers food with bacteria or other pathogens, the consumer won’t be able to know whether it was the restaurant or the supplier that was responsible for food poisoning. Still, under the law, a person injured by food poisoning may be able to file a food safety litigations lawsuit according to the product liability laws.
Under product liability laws, anyone who manufactures or sells a defective product is strictly liable for all the injuries caused, even if that person or company was not negligent.
In food poisoning cases, a plaintiff will generally need to prove four things to get a fair food safety settlement:
Foodservice companies include those that provide a wide range of ingredients and food to restaurants. These include those that sell packaged foods like salads and sandwiches. This could include grab-and-go type foods sold at grocery stores, gas stations, or the airport. These meals are often prepared in large facilities and distributed across the area. Just like with other restaurants, using contaminated food products or employees mishandling food could result in customers getting sick.
Selling expired groceries may not be enough to file a food safety lawsuit in 2025 against the grocery store. However, if the grocery store sells expired food that caused you to get sick, the store may be liable for all your injuries. Under product liability laws and negligence laws, the grocery store is responsible for selling or providing contaminated food that results in harm to the customer. The manufacturer or supplier of the product can also be held liable in a food safety claim.
Moreover, even if you purchased expired food from the grocery store, you may be able to return your purchase to the store for a refund. Therefore, if the store does not offer a refund, you may be able to file a food safety litigation lawsuit in small claims court. However, you cannot file a personal injury lawsuit against a grocery store for selling expired food unless you were injured or harmed as a result of your purchase.
According to the Food Safety Act, food is deemed adulterated if:
Note that the manufacture, sale, and offer for sale of any adulterated food is prohibited under the law.
So how do you protect yourself from consuming adulterated food? Here are some preventative ways.
For a successful food safety litigation lawsuit, the victim needs the support and assistance of a qualified lawyer who is familiar with litigating and investigating food safety issues, injuries, and damages.
At Ethen Ostroff Law, we can provide you with the best references for food safety lawyers in Philadelphia. Depending on your needs, we can find the right legal counsel, so you don’t have to worry about filing your claim. From gathering evidence to proving your entitlement to compensation, a trusted food safety attorney will be with you every step of the way.
What are you waiting for? Contact Ethen Ostroff Law now at 610-510-8883 ( by calling this number, you consent to receive SMS updates from Ethen Ostroff Law) or Submit Form to get free consultation.
His career began in public service as a Surveillance Officer in Maricopa County, where he gained firsthand experience in high-stakes decision-making and developed a deep sense of discipline and accountability. He later served as Chief Operating Officer of a fast-growing law firm, driving efficiency, revenue growth, and team development. Today, Ryan focuses on helping law firms reach their full potential by aligning people, processes, and long-term vision. A strategic thinker and empowering leader, Ryan is passionate about developing others and guiding organizations through meaningful, lasting growth.
Effective Date: 10/15/2026
Ethen Ostroff Law, PLLC (“EOL,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. If you are reaching out to us after an injury, we know you may be sharing personal details during a hard time. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you visit ethenostrofflaw.com (the “Site”), how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have.
This Privacy Policy works together with our Terms of Use. By using the Site, you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the Site.
Visiting the Site, submitting a form, chatting with us online, or sending us an email does not create an attorney-client relationship. An attorney-client relationship begins only when you and EOL sign a written Retainer Agreement. Until then, information you send us is not protected by attorney-client privilege and is not considered confidential. Please do not send sensitive details about your matter until we have spoken with you.
When you request a free consultation, fill out a form, use our live chat, call, text, or email us, you may give us:
When you visit the Site, we and the third-party tools described in section 8 may automatically collect:
We may share your information with:
If you opt in to text messages, you may receive messages about your inquiry or case. Message frequency varies, and message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP at any time to opt out, or HELP for help. Mobile phone numbers and text message opt-in consent will not be shared with third parties or affiliates for their own marketing purposes.
We do not send the details you type into our intake forms, contact forms, or live chat, such as information about your injury or legal matter, to Google, Meta, TikTok, Reddit, or any other advertising platform.
The Site uses cookies, pixels, and similar tools. A cookie is a small file stored in your browser. A pixel is a small piece of code that loads when you visit a page and sends information about your visit to the company that provides it. We use Google Tag Manager to load and manage these tools.
The table below lists the third-party tools on the Site and what we use them for.
| Provider | What we use it for | Provider privacy policy |
| Google Tag Manager | Loads and manages the other tools listed here. It does not build a profile of you. | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Google Analytics | Understanding how visitors use the Site, such as pages viewed and how they found us. | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Google Ads | Measuring ad conversions and showing our ads to past visitors. | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Meta Pixel (Facebook and Instagram) | Measuring ad performance, showing our ads to past visitors, and reaching similar audiences. | facebook.com/privacy/policy |
| TikTok Pixel | Measuring ad performance, showing our ads to past visitors, and reaching similar audiences. | tiktok.com/legal/privacy-policy |
| Reddit Pixel | Measuring ad performance, showing our ads to past visitors, and reaching similar audiences. | reddit.com/policies/privacy-policy |
| Intaker | Powers the live chat on the Site so you can reach our intake team. | intaker.com |
| OpenWidget (ChatBot.com) | Powers the chat assistant on the Site. | openwidget.com |
| Google reCAPTCHA | Protects our forms from spam and automated abuse. | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Google Maps | Displays maps of our office locations. | policies.google.com/privacy |
These tools may collect the information listed in section 3. If you give us your email address or phone number, a scrambled (hashed) version may be sent to an advertising platform so it can match your visit to an existing account.
Google, Meta, TikTok, and Reddit may combine the information they receive with other data they hold about you and use it under their own privacy policies. You can learn how Google uses information from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
Some state privacy laws, including California’s, may treat sharing information through advertising pixels as a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information, or as targeted advertising. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to know what information we hold about you, to ask us to correct or delete it, and to opt out of its sale or sharing. To make a request, contact us using the information in section 15. We may need to verify your identity before we respond. We will not treat you differently for using these rights.
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your information. No method of sending or storing data over the internet is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee the security of information you send us.
We keep your information as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy, including to meet legal, ethical, and record-keeping obligations.
The Site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them online. If a parent or guardian is contacting us about a child’s injury, the parent or guardian should submit the inquiry.
We may update this policy when we add, change, or remove tools on the Site or change how we handle information. We will post the updated version here and change the effective date above.
If you have questions about this policy or want to make a privacy request, contact us:
