Facts
- A went to a restaurant with a woman friend and bought one bottle of gingerâ beer manufactured by the defendants. The woman consumed part of the contents but when the remainder was poured into the glass,, she observed the decomposed body of a snail in it.
- The gingerâbeer bottle, being opaque and sealed, the presence of a snail could not have been observed earlier.
- The woman brought an action against the manufacturer for negligence and alleged that by taking a part of the contaminated drink, she had contracted serious illness.
- The House of Lords held that the manufacturer owed her a duty to take care that the bottle did not contain noxious matter injurious to health. Referring to the liability of the manufacturer of food articles,
Principles
NEGLIGENCE – LIABILITY AT COMMON LAW AND STATUTORY
Ratio Decidendi
- âYou must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour.â
It was therefore their duty to see that such passersâby , neighbor.
- It must always be a question of circumstances whether the carelessness amounts to negligence, and whether the injury is not too remote from the carelessness.
- the article of consumption is so prepared as to be intended to reach the consumer in the condition in which it leaves the manufacturer, and the manufacturer takes steps to ensure this by sealing or otherwise closing the container so that the contents cannot be tampered with, regard his control as remaining effective until the article reaches the consumer and the container is opened by him.
- Lord Macmillan observed : “The duty, in my opinion, he (the manufacturer) owes to those whom he intends to consume his products.
