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A Bone to Pick: Back to the Basics in Food Product Liability with a Necessary Reformation of the "Hybrid" Negligence Standard

Abstract

Ohio does not use the traditional negligence standard in determining negligence in food product liability cases. Instead, Ohio uses what is called the hybrid test. The hybrid test analyzes what a consumer would reasonably expect to find in their food, and Ohio courts consider the naturalness of an object to the food it is in to be the determinative factor: natural objects should be reasonably expected and cannot give rise to successful claims of negligence. This hybrid test fails to consider that food is complex, and consumers often cannot know what to reasonably expect in the food they buy. The hybrid test also places all the analysis on what a plaintiff-consumer should expect, ignoring the actions of any defendants. This Note argues that the negligence standard that Ohio courts use should be revised to include the analysis of defendants’ actions. Such a revision would promote deterrence of negligent actions, more greatly coincide with the traditional negligence standard, and increase the chances of plaintiffs reaching juries with their claims.

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