Jeffrey Zenna, a New Jersey lawyer and a partner at the firm of Blume Forte Fried Zerres & Molinari, agrees that the potential liability window here for the cereal manufacturer could be massive. It is enough that they put a defective product (sugary kids’ cereal with shrimp tails) into the market, and that the shrimp caused an injury to a consumer. What this means in practice is that to be held liable for any injury caused by Cinnamon Toast Crunch, General Mills did not need to intend any harm or to be actually negligent. In other words, the law holds them strictly liable for the personal injury caused by their products. Federally, and pretty much in every state, there is what’s known as “strict liability” when it comes to food manufacturers such as General Mills. And that is no laughing matter.įor the uninitiated, here’s how product liability for food works in the United States. There is no sugar-coating the reality that if there was actually shrimp in a box of cereal, those people could get very, very sick. On a serious note, some people are allergic to shellfish. Which is where we find ourselves today – with an unresolved nautical mystery that has taken over social media not only in the United States but throughout the world. It claimed the person who started all of this had simply found some crystallized sugar and while we are neither cereal nor shrimp experts, well … see the accompanying photo. The social media account for parent company General Mills did not do the best of jobs in what rapidly became a very public dialogue. This became a social media meme, in part because it was a slow news week and in part because-eew!-shrimp in cereal. Without diving into too much detail on the facts, a minor celebrity married to a formerly less minor celebrity found what he claims are cinnamon toast shrimp tails in a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. And for those of you who have been living under a rock lately, the tide has turned for one of the nation’s most beloved cereal brands.
For General Mills, it was impossible to sea (pun intended) this coming.
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