Odwalla Juice Company Case

The Odwalla Juice Company crisis of 1996 represents the same product liability that every manufacturer, supplier, dealer and rental company faces (Ashcroft). It is a necessary liability that must be incurred by every business that does produce some type of article that can be used by the consumer. With every new product there is absolutely always going to be a risk involved. Risk is the essence of business. If businesses did not take these necessary risks we would still be a very primitive society lacking many of the products and living standards that we enjoy today.

As we have read concerning the breakout, which stemmed from an E. coli strain originating in a bad batch of apples, there was little warning that such an incident would happen. Odwalla prided itself on its ability to stimulate social responsibility with the foods and drinks we eat and to continue to sponsor newer and better styles of life and self-betterment.

The previously used acid-based rinsing process that allowed the Odwalla product to maintain the full fruit taste that many other products lack was one that, since 1986, had sufficed in providing the necessary protection from bacteria. What happened in 1996 in one of the Odwalla factories was "unforeseeable" by Odwalla. In order for a company to be served a valid business tort under the violation of a product liability negligence law there are a number of things that would need to take place.

First, the plaintiff would need to completely understand the manufacturing process of the Odwalla product. This process would need to be evaluated by the FDA in order to assure that the company is adhering to the most recent laws governing the manufacturing of the specific product. Once this has been done it is the plaintiff's responsibility to prove, that somewhere in this process there has been negligence in either the actual production or a failure to warn of any known dangers through the direct or indirect use of the product by the consumer.

Odwalla was not breaking any laws in the cleaning process of their fruit. What happened in courtrooms after was caused by a different reason that will be addressed later. However when the incident initially occurred, Odwalla, three months previous had been evaluated by the FDA and received no negative comments regarding the processing and manufacturing of their products and passed all inspections.

What is most impressive on the part of Odwalla's management was the quick response to the problem. Immediately upon notice of an investigation being done by the State of Washington, the board of directors met to decide what was to be done. Through a $6.5 million product recall and another substantial public relations campaign, the company did all that was possible to warn consumers of the danger in the drinks. Under any normal