The Salmonella affair: Is it possible to sue - and in what amount? | Israel today

While most media outlets often deal with the responsibility of food manufacturers for the salmonella default, it is easy to forget that the regulator - in this case, the Ministry of Health - also shares responsibility, as its main role is to protect citizens.

Ofra Strauss on the salmonella affair: "Apologies for the sadness of the soul" // Photo: Moshe Ben Simhon

"The Ministry of Health, the trust for civilian health, had to conduct a comprehensive and regular set of tests on the production lines, in order to avoid the assembly we are currently in," explains Adv. David Mana, owners of the law firm Mana & Co. and an expert in tort and class action lawsuits.

The warranty does not end with Strauss.

Adv. David Mana, Photo: Reuven Kopoczynski

The regulator, according to Adv. Mana, is the inspector - and therefore “his representatives have to visit the factories from time to time and sample the production lines, in order to approve them.

They did not do so, and the celebration of the justified criticism of Strauss and Elite does not absolve the Ministry of Health of responsibility. "

We know that salmonella was formed due to the presence of ions in the plant.

What is the legal significance of this? 

"It should be understood that the salmonella bacterium does not grow out of thin air. This is a consequence of non-maintenance of hygiene resulting from labor savings, poor quality control and other factors, which need to be monitored by the manufacturer that what happened - will not happen."

"They failed in their duty to protect public health."

The heads of the health system at the Elite plant in the Galilee landscape, last week, Photo: Gil Eliyahu / Ginny

How does the regulator's responsibility fit in here?

"These days, my office and I are also preparing a class action lawsuit against Strauss-Elite, and we are definitely considering getting the Ministry of Health into it. Although the main blame falls on the manufacturer, the state cannot underestimate basic hygiene at one of the largest food factories in the country; Home, and many of its raw materials are used to make a variety of additional products from leading manufacturers. "

Manufacturers absorb justified anger, but they are not the only ones to blame.

Elite-Strauss products, Photo: Ami Shumen

Prevent explains that there are additional circuits that have been damaged, which can claim compensation.

"For example, the Aroma chain produces its chocolates at Strauss factories. It has been damaged, and therefore deserves compensation. Owners of chocolate and confectionery stores have also been harmed because their sales volumes have dropped by tens of percent. In these cases, this is a standard tort claim.

"A tort claim is also possible in any case where a person who purchased these products fell ill, was injured or perhaps even hospitalized in some cases. These customers are entitled to tort compensation, each case on its own merits. This amount is beyond the class action."

How do you estimate what amount can be claimed in a class action?

"In order to assess the class action in this case, it is necessary to estimate how many customers purchase the infected products and what the average purchase of the products is. If 100,000 people, say, purchase infected chocolate for NIS 15, the amount of the claim can be calculated."

The lawsuit, Advocate Mana adds, will be based on negligence and infringement of autonomy.

This, even though she knew that there was a reasonable suspicion of the presence of salmonella in the products - hence the negligence.

It might have been possible to prevent harm to some of the customers already with the presence of the first infected test.

The company should have announced a suspicion, and added that the issue is under investigation, something that was not done. "

"The Salmonella Affair - Part of the Overlapping Culture."

Elite factory in the Galilee landscape, Photo: Gil Eliyahu / Ginny

Advocate Mana sums up the affair as another expression of the “overlap culture, which has spread in our country like an epidemic.

"Large and reputable companies - and the regulator itself - disregard and save standards and money, and this is reflected in unnecessary omissions such as the salmonella affair."

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