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One of the most popular snack items at one of the country’s most popular supermarkets may be tainted with poisonous substances.
According to Consumer Reports, Trader Joe’s, Lindt, Hershey, Dove, and Godiva dark chocolate have dangerous levels of cadmium and lead. Several lawsuits have already been filed against these companies, who have stated that their products were safe. So far, the government has taken no action in this area.
Heavy Metals in Dark Chocolate
Industrialization significantly increased the amount of heavy metal particles in the environment, drinking water, and processed food. These substances, and where they are found, include:
- Thallium (fireworks and pesticides),
- Cadmium (cigarette smoke, batteries, and metal plates),
- Arsenic (topical creams, enamels, glass, contaminated water, herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, fungicides, paints, seafood, and algae)
- Mercury (thermometers, lightbulbs, silver tooth fillings, topical antiseptics, batteries, and seafood), and
- Lead (pipes, batteries, construction materials, paint, and gasoline).
Since these items are so common, almost everyone is exposed to low levels of these substances. High exposure could cause medical conditions like:
- Gastrointestinal and kidney issues,
- Nervous system disorders and developmental delays,
- Skin lesions,
- Vascular damage,
- Immune system dysfunction,
- Birth defects, and
- Cancer. Initial metallosis (metal poisoning) symptoms include diarrhea, weakness, nausea, dehydration, chills, abdominal pain, and throat scratchiness.
Metallosis is difficult to treat and nearly impossible to cure. Only a few medications are available, and these powerful drugs have side effects that many people cannot tolerate. Some advanced medical interventions, like dialysis and chelating agents that remove toxic metals from the body through the urine, may also be available. Once again, not everyone is a candidate for such radical procedures.
Most metal poisoning victims These two age groups are most likely to have issues tolerating metallosis medical treatments. Other at-risk individuals include people who work with heavy metals and/or live in highly polluted areas.
Do Safety Recalls Protect People?
Government watchdogs, like the Food and Drug Administration, only issue recall notices as a last resort. Furthermore, the recall does nothing to help the victims of the defective product.
Product recalls preventing more people from getting hurt. But victims who have been hurt could be stuck with huge medical bills. A New York personal injury attorney must file a legal claim in civil court to obtain compensation for medical bills and other damages.
Defective Product Claims
These legal claims are usually defective product claims. Manufacturers are strictly liable for the injuries their products cause.
Causation is usually the key issue in these claims. As mentioned, poisons like heavy metals are almost everywhere, so it could be difficult to connect a victim’s injury with a specific product.
The burden of proof in these claims is very low. Victims must only prove responsibility by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning that a certain food product was more likely than not responsible for their illness.
Compensation in a defective product claim usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Additional punitive damages are available as well if there is clear and convincing evidence the defendant intentionally disregarded a known risk.
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney in New York, contact Napoli Shkolnik .