Tyson Foods Inc. has agreed to donate up to 1.7 million pounds of chicken to Illinois food banks to settle a products liability lawsuit that claimed the world’s biggest meat producer artificially inflated the retail weight of its poultry.

Our San Diego personal injury lawyers believe that manufacturers whose products present design defects which are those that occur in the manufacturing process which result in poor-quality materials or shoddy workmanship, could very well be held responsible for their products liability.  Design defects occur where the product design is inherently dangerous or useless (and hence defective) no matter how carefully manufactured.

While in the case of Tyson no personal injury occurred as a result of a products liability more than less a products liability results in personal injury.  A person may suffer from a number of personal injuries as a result of a design defect including brain injuries, physical disabilities, spinal cord injuries, and pain and suffering.  In addition to the emotional trauma any of these personal injuries may inflict it can also force you to seek help paying your medical bills.

The lawsuit against Tyson — originally brought in 2001 by a couple from Hartford and an Arkansas man — claimed that Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson artificially inflated the weight of poultry products sold between 1997 and 2003 through a cold-water immersion chilling process that resulted in absorption and retention of water under the birds’ skin and muscle tissues.  What this means is that the company was injecting water into their meat products in order to inflate the weight, forcing you to pay more money at the grocery store for chicken that should of cost less.

As part of the settlement, a $2 million fund will be established to settle claims by an unspecified number of individual class members.  But few are expected because Tyson keeps no records of retail customers and few consumers eligible for reimbursement would still have required proof that they bought the chicken so many years ago.

So the company has agreed to donate unclaimed funds in the form of fresh poultry, expected to be about 1.7 million pounds, according to reports.

Suppose a loved one or you suffered a personal injury due to the negligence of a distributor who gave you food that hadn’t been approved by the FDA.  Would you not want those who gave you the foods which directly caused a personal injury to be held responsible for their actions?

The personal injury attorneys at our San Diego law firm believe that anyone who distributes or makes products available to the public, which result in a personal injury, should be held responsible for the injuries those products cause.

Please feel free to call us now at 1-858-551-2090 or click here for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced personal injury lawyer.  We have a large bilingual staff that can assist you in either English or Spanish.